Law students are offering advice to anyone who cannot afford to pay legal fees, having set up Malta’s first law clinic.
Run by the University of Malta and the Chamber of Advocates, the law clinic serves a dual purpose: to offer help to those who cannot pay for lawyers’ services while providing students with hands-on experience.
David Zammit, the head of the Department of Civil Law, told The Sunday Times of Malta that the idea for such a project first crossed his mind some seven years ago, following a visit to the university by an American lawyer and academic.
In the US, Dr Zammit said, such clinics are extremely popular among students and lawyers fresh out of university. In Malta, however, the concept was somewhat alien, with students rarely getting opportunities for hands-on practice.
“This is a new way of teaching law, where the lecturer isn’t there to simply give a lecture and the students take notes.
“By having such a clinic, students are involved in many of the tasks which any warranted lawyer would do,” Dr Zammit said.
It’s not a case of having students blurt out advice to clients without any guidance
The clinic is set up in such a way that every student is paired up with a warranted lawyer. Clients are referred to the clinic by different organisations and receive advice following an evaluation of their case by both the student and the lawyer.
Chamber of Advocates secretary Stefan Camilleri said that every student has a lawyer who acts as a supervisor, and responsibility for each case rests with the warranted lawyer. “It’s not a case of having students blurt out advice to clients without any guidance. That would defeat the purpose, as we want to provide the most professional experience to all involved,” he said.
Students are encouraged, however, to come up with their own plan of action, which they discuss with the lawyer before then speaking to clients. While the clinic serves as useful practice for students, Dr Camilleri went on to say that by offering such services, lawyers were also giving something back to society.
“Only vulnerable people can benefit from the free services. We started off by targeting Cottonera, as we identified a need for such a service there, but if it takes off, we are open to setting up elsewhere,” Dr Camilleri said.
While walk-ins who seek assistance will not be turned away, at present the clinic is dealing with cases referred to it by a number of NGOs, including the Jesuit Refugee Service, Victim Support Malta and consumer associations.
The clinic is being launched officially on May 3, with the launch being organised in collaboration with the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society.
claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com