The Pompeu Fabra University Legal Clinic, approved by the Faculty of Law at the end of last November, is a project offering learning and service in which teams consisting of lawyers, professors and students work together to advise and defend real cases of vulnerable individuals or groups, free of charge.

It is a university service aimed at undergraduate and graduate students of law so that they can become initiated in legal practice.

During the 2018-2019 academic year, the Clinic has taken on two cases (one dealing with family law and the other the so-called “second chance mechanism”) and in January 2019 it will launch a service to the public provided by volunteers (teaching staff, alumni and students).

Several teams to work in legal defence on a voluntary basis

The teams in charge of each issue will consist of a registered lawyer (who will act as legal counsel), a university professor, responsible for academic supervision, and a very small number of students (three to five), with the possibility of incorporating an alumnus as a volunteer. They will defend real cases promoting human rights and social justice and protecting the needy and the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.

“The idea is that each of these teams can have a regular, direct and immediate relationship with the person or entity affected by a legal problem, so that the students live the experience of being part of a reliable legal defence team fighting in the real world on a voluntary basis”, says Maurici Pérez Simeón, a professor of Roman Law at UPF and director of the Clinic, who was appointed by the dean of the Faculty of Law, Anna Caballé, the promoter of the initiative.

UPF’s own model of legal clinic

“UPF has sought to create its own model of legal clinic based on social commitment and teaching excellence”, states Maurici Pérez. In addition to this, one aspect that characterizes the model of Pompeu Fabra is the respect for the role of Bar Associations. In this regard, the Clinic is conceived as a complementary service, not as a replacement for free defence counsel.

A key element is the personal contact between students and the people affected by a legal problem

Another key element of the Clinic, which aims to act as an engine of social change prioritizing issues of general interest, is the personal contact between students and the people affected by a legal problem. “The idea is that for the students the issue is not merely a technical problem on paper, but for them to get professionally involved in the transcendent experience of a human being”, said Maurici Pérez.

Regarding the participating social organizations, the aim of the Clinic is to provide the neediest with the legal knowledge resulting from university research promoted by the University, to open new horizons of jurisprudence. Regarding the collaborating lawyers, the aim is to encourage the transfer of knowledge and experience between academic research and the practice of law, to promote the provision of free legal services by the jurists.

The activities of the Clinic will be academic and not professional in nature, and the University will not exercise any legal defence activity that is reserved by law for the legal profession or other closed professions. In addition, the Clinic will always be free of charge for people affected by the matters dealt with and legal advice provided by the collaborating lawyers will also always be free (pro bono).

Selection of cases and members

According to Maurici Pérez, “the cases we will work with in the Clinic must meet certain requirements, such as being of social and academic interest and of an administrative or judicial nature”. A public mailbox will be enabled on the website of the Clinic allowing anyone interested to apply for a case to be accepted.

With regard to the selection of the teaching staff assigned, this will be carried out among the teachers of the UPF Department of Law, between one and three teachers for each case. “The choice will be made based on their specialization, academic and professional experience, evaluation by students and commitment to social engagement”, says the director of the Clinic.

Regarding the lawyers, they must be persons of recognized standing, with at least five years of experience in legal practice, who can certify a specialization. Finally, to select the students, a call for registrations will be opened and the criteria for choosing them will be based on the average grade of their academic record.

The lecturers assigned will entrust students with tasks to contribute to the resolution of the case posed. For academic purposes, the work of the students will correspond to a bachelor’s degree final project worth six credits. All participants in the Clinic will be required to keep absolute professional secrecy concerning all information to which they have had access during the course of the activity.

One director and two committees, one academic and the other social and professional

The organizational bodies of the Clinic, promoted by Anna Caballé, dean of the Faculty of Law are: a director (Maurici Pérez) an academic committee, which will be responsible for selecting the cases, initially formed by the lecturers Josep Ferrer Riba, Santiago Ripol Carulla and David Felip Saborit; and a social and professional committee, a collegiate body with an independent control function and that must be used to convey to the Clinic ideas and proposals from outsiders.

It will also include a permanent seminar in order to associate those active in the field of free or supportive legal counsel who are interested in the project. They can be natural or legal persons who have worked with the Clinic, students, faculty, alumni and lawyers.