Establishing An International Human Rights Clinic in the New Zealand Context

Abstract

Whilst clinical programmes are an established and core feature of legal education in the USA, and play a significant role in various other jurisdictions, they are essentially absent from New Zealand. The existence of a marked difference is itself a reason to investigate whether experiential learning should have a place in the curriculum of New Zealand’s law schools. This is done by examining briefly the growth of clinical legal education in order to illuminate its purpose; and then considering whether structural differences mean that this does not resonate as much in New Zealand. It is suggested that there are indeed some reasons for caution, in particular that there is a concern around having a two-tier system of legal provision. But it is also suggested that an international human rights clinic could surmount these reasons for caution; and a prospective design for such a programme is developed and its ability to secure the needs of students and clients is assessed.