Legal Services Clinic at NLSIU wins 2nd prize in MacJannet Prize; To use $5,000 prize money for out-reach programme, long-term projects

The Legal Services Clinic at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore (LSC) has recently been awarded the second place for the MacJannet Prize, an award that carries with it prize money of five thousand dollars..The MacJannet Prize was established by Talloires Network and the MacJannet Foundation in 2009, in order to “recognize exceptional student community engagement initiatives”..This year, a total of 59 nominations from 50 universities across the world were received by the organizers. Out of these, University of Manitoba (Canada) won the first place for its “Rec and Read Mentorship Programme”..Officially recognized in 1997, the LSC is a completely student-run body and has recently launched an out-reach programme to start legal aid cells in other law colleges in Karnataka. Through an e-mail interview, LSC convener Basavanagouda Patil told Bar & Bench a bit more about the selection process and the activities of the LSC..(Excerpts below).Bar & Bench: Congratulations! What was the selection procedure like? What do you think swung the jury in your favour?.Basavanagouda Patil: In the first step, we were shortlisted from among those 59 nominations to the Top 11 entries on the basis of our written applications. This was followed by interviews taken by a panel from the Tailloires Network based out of Tufts University. Professor Patil, who is our faculty advisor and I were interviewd over skype..While I truly believe that all the entires were commendable, what made LSC stand apart was our approach to legal aid and legal awareness. LSC does not limit itself to carrying out awareness programs but extends it to legal aid and has also forayed into policy making. Our comprehensive model starting from legal awareness, legal aid goes on to policy drafting (National Legal Aid Policy), influencing implementation of laws by filing PIL’s (JJ, CoPrA)..LSC also adopts a multi-pronged approach to legal awareness through literacy programs in schools, NGOs etc., street plays as well as publications like handbooks on particular laws, newsletters. In terms of legal aid, we not only provide assistance through our centre on campus, via email, we are also looking to expand our activities in Bidadi taluka [in Karnataka]..So our comprehensive and top-down approach to legal issues and the thoroughness with which we address each of our actvities is sure to have influenced the judges’ decision..The Jury particularly liked our Outreach Project/Initiative. Some other projects which seemed to impress them are:.1. Guide to Consumer Law Handbook..2. 3 volumes of Juvenile Justice Report which led to us filing a PIL at the K’taka HC..3. LSC association with the Juvenile Justice Board sitting at the Observation Home, Bangalore..B&B: Any ideas on what the prize money will be used for?.BP: LSC has an annual budget that it receives from the college. However, this prize amount is a substantial addition to it. We shall use it to further the Outreach project to ensure we do justice to that initiative. Any subsequent projects we undertake could also be bolstered by this fund. The idea is to ensure that this money is used for projects in the long run along with ensuring their continuation. We might even convert this money into a corpus fund in furtherance of the same..B&B: You mentioned the out-reach programme that the LSC is currently working on. Could you tell us a bit more about how it is going to shape up? What has been the response of other law colleges so far?.BP: Outreach is one of our Annual Projects i.e. a project we spread over the academic year. This is essential given the nature of the task we have undertaken. Outreach along with Juvenile Justice Issues were the major annual projects this year..As part of Outreach, we’ve been assisting law colleges in various districts (mostly underdeveloped districts) throughout Karnataka to set up legal aid clinics. We realise that the need for legal assistance in these areas is great but we are unable to help people there due to the distance and lack of local presence. The idea is to ensure that other colleges are able to set up sustainable clinics across the state. We have been providing them with basic resources like a guide on setting up, on carrying out LLPs (awareness programs) along with other essentials like posters, bookmarks that we use for awareness programs. We also guide them if they seek our assistance in issues like ensuring student participation, a viable model to man the clinic. While such logistical issues seem trivial, they are the reason most clinics don’t survive in the long run..Although we encountered a number of issues on approaching the colleges- ranging from reluctance to take the task up, lack of faculty support or student interest- overall the response has been good and we have managed to convince a number or colleges. Given our recommendations to the BCI on legal aid policy, we expect the enforcement of rules mandating the setting up of legal aid centers to be more robust. That itself will make the initial permissions easier. However, ensuring these clinics last in the long run is something we shall have to keep working on..As of now we have completed Phase I (sharing resources) of the project in 4 districts- Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, and Hulbi-Dharwad..B&B: One of the more common criticisms about the newer law schools is that they are tailored towards corporate interests. Thoughts?.BP: While it is true that a lot of law schoolites turn to the corporate sector, law schools are not tailor made for them. The way law is taught in the national law schools comprehensively deals with humanities subjects as well as every major area of law (criminal, family law, corporate et al). The humanities allow for a better understanding about the origins, causes and effects of law, thereby connecting law in theory with ground reality. Added to that, you have [bodies] like the LSC..This focus on corporate has been something all law schools are criticised for but it just doesn’t take into account these factors. Furthermore, NLS itself just got its first two senior advocates recently. A large number of our alumni have also become academics and teachers. Some of the best teachers in law schools around India (including NLS) are from law schools. Another set of law schoolmates have joined the civil services and also NGOs like the Alternative Law Forum. So while this criticism might have some amount of truth if seen from the point of view of the sheer number of people joining firms, there is a lot more which these critics ignore.