Ten years of kind legal assistance

January 22, 2014

Free legal counsel is one way for many low-income and socially vulnerable citizens to obtain legal aid. The Legal Clinic at AUCA is one of the most effective nongovernmental sources of legal assistance. The Director of AUCA’s Legal Clinic, Nurilya Isaeva, together with International Arbitrary Court arbitrator and assistant professor Sagyn Omuraliev, will explain the role of the Legal Clinic.

NURILYA ISAEVA – DIRECTOR, THE LEGAL CLINIC AT AUCA

Nurilya, when was the Legal Clinic at AUCA first opened?
The Legal Clinic as an academic course was designed in 2003 for upper-level students of the International and Business Law program. Because the Clinic actually performs legal work, it bridges the gap between theory and practice. It is constantly improving its educational methods, improving the professional skills of students, and informing the local population of legal issues. Socially vulnerable populations such as low-income, unemployed, elderly, and disabled individuals, as well as AUCA students and faculty are the clinic’s main clients. Over the past ten years, the clinic has served its clients well. Students are getting a great opportunity to develop practical skills working on real cases.

What kinds of services does the clinic provide? Is it successful?
Law students counsel citizens on various legal matters under the supervision of a practicing lawyer. The clinic provides assistance in many legal areas, including civil, labor, family, administrative, business, and international private law. Our services are limited only when explaining legislative acts of the Kyrgyz Republic. Our students also successfully advocate for citizens’ rights and interests in judicial organs of the Kyrgyz government.

SAGYN OMURALIEV – STUDENTS’ EXPERT ADVISOR, THE LEGAL CLINIC AT AUCA

What are the students working on right now?
Currently, a practicing lawyer is conducting a weekly theoretical “legal clinic” for students. Students work in their free time. When they are on duty, they receive clients and do preliminary problem assessments. Students average two to four cases, depending on the duration of consideration, length of time necessary to document preparation, and the relative complication of each case. Because they don’t have a law degree or license to practice law yet, our students cannot participate in criminal cases. However, they can advocate in civil proceedings. There are instances where our students have participated and helped to win cases in all three judicial levels, including the Supreme Court.

Of how many cases have your students been a part?
Since the beginning of the academic year, the clinic has had over 30 cases. Several complicated cases are continuing from last spring, while others have been completed with reports submitted.

Could you tell us about your clients?
As said previously, members of lower income populations make up the bulk of our clients because they don’t have sufficient funds to hire big money lawyers. We’ve also had well-to-do businessmen who understand the value of money and the high cost of legal representation as our clients. Our students are honest and committed, unlike the unscrupulous lawyers who intentionally draw cases out to bleed their clients dry, or the equivocating ones who seem to be on both sides of every issue.

How professional is the advice of your students?
Senior students are competent lawyers. Most of them are honest and intuitive about their work. They scrupulously attend to their cases and perform with outstanding professionalism. Great technical resources including a library and a comprehensive database of normative legal acts of Kyrgyzstan and other countries are made available to them.

How do you evaluate the students’ work at the clinic?
Students write interim (if the case is continuing) or final conclusions after working with each client. Instructors examine the reports and assign grades based on students’ theoretical and practical course requirements and direct client work. The efficacy of our work can be seen in the number of clients who return to us or who recommend us to relatives and friends. Furthermore, many institutions and courts refer citizens to our group for excellent legal assistance.

What does the future hold in store for the legal clinic?
Our clinic currently works in different areas of civil law. I have interned at several universities in the US (four months at Columbia University in New York), UK, Hungary, and Turkey. At these universities, I observed independent clinics working on human rights, family and marital relations, youth issues, and more. At Washington University in St. Louis, there is even a clinic providing clients with legal advice during criminal cases and officially participates in trial proceedings. I dare say we will have something similar at AUCA soon.

What is your opinion on legal education in Kyrgyzstan?
There are about fifty universities here serving a population of over five and a half million. Most of them have law departments, however the teaching standards at most are considerably poor. It’s also no secret that corruption is rampant among students and inside faculties alike. You can imagine what kinds of lawyers graduate from such universities-the kinds of unscrupulous lawyers I mentioned before.

Of what can AUCA be proud?
AUCA is unique among Central Asian universities; for 20 years, it has prepared high caliber graduates in high demand in politics and economics in Kyrgyzstan and overseas. It offers students modern and civilized educations by employing the best faculty and providing the highest quality technical resources. Everything at the university exists for the students. Most importantly, there is no corruption.

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