Access to Justice and the Rule of Law, NIGERIA

At a CDP planning conference held in Eerbeek, the Netherlands, from July 15-18, 2004, reforms of legal education and promotion of access to justice in West Africa were identified as critical to effective political and economic reform in the sub-region. This pilot project will contribute to improve legal education and provide legal aid and representation to underserved populations, as well as provide a base from which research on access to justice can be conducted.

The pilot project will be located in Ibadan, in southwestern Nigeria and implemented by the Center for Law and Social Action (CLASA), and the University of Ibadan (Faculty of Law). A Clinical Legal Education initiative will be introduced at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan (UI Law).  A Law Clinic, located near the university campus, will provide free counseling, advisory and representation services for indigent and vulnerable women in the greater Ibadan metropolitan area.  Inauguration of the Clinic is scheduled for July 18, 2007.

The project will enable UI Law students to acquire practical experience in legal counseling and advocacy, while providing free legal services to indigent and vulnerable women. Work assignments at the Law Clinic will be integrated into the training of law students at the University of Ibadan and academic credit will be accorded to their activities. The UI Law faculty is also working on making participation in the clinic an essential component of the undergraduate Family Law course and the postgraduate Human Rights and Comparative Family Law course.