United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNODC Iran held the Second Meeting on Legal Aid with the focus on "Importance and Role of Law Clinics" on 21 and 22 October 2014, with the participation of international and national practitioners and clinicians at Iran's National Library and Archives Center. This two-day national meeting was organized in close cooperation with the Research Center of the Iranian Judiciary and brought together 30 experts from academia and Judiciary to review national best practices and international models of Law Clinics.

The national speakers presented the audience with subjects that included (i) the constitutional rights of citizens to just courts and right to have lawyers during the legal procedures; (ii) the legal system of Iran and the goal of improving legal aid to vulnerable groups; (iii) the achievements of the Judiciary hotline 129 in providing legal consultation to citizens by phone; (iv) the need for establishment of a platform for legal practitioners to get a balanced knowledge of both practical and theoretical subjects; and for further enforcement of cooperation between academia and the Judiciary on legal matters; and (vi) the role of Legal Clinics in promoting human rights and experiences, with an emphasis on Mofid University programmes.

The message of Mr. Leik Boonwaat, UNODC Iran Representative, was read to the audience and included references to the necessity of establishment of legal aid and law clinics and the United Nations advocated standards for citizens to have the right to counsel and to fair trials.

 

During the course of the meeting, Professor José García-Añón, the Director of the International Human Rights Clinic in the Legal Clinic for Social Justice of University of Valencia, Dr. Zara Maranlou from the University of Oxford, and Mr. Daven Dass, Supervising Attorney at the General Unit of the Witwaterstrand Law Clinic, South African University, provided their respective overviews and experiences on "Clinical Legal Education" together with their insight into the success stories and challenges in the establishment of Law Clinics.

 

The participants evaluated the meeting as an opportunity for exchanging national and international experiences on law clinics and legal aid, and an opportunity for academicians and Judiciary experts to share their findings with national colleagues and institutions for promotion and possible expansion of legal clinics in the country.