ACTIVITIES


The main achievements of the Foundation

Building the position, image and the formal framework for the clinics and the Legal Clinics Foundation:
  1. very quick and effective incorporation of the Foundation itself,
  2. constructing and integrating a network of legal clinics in Poland,
  3. the instigation of a feeling of unity among the clinics,
  4. legal clinics are presented in the mass-media ever more often through interviews and reports from the various projects,
  5. cooperation is tightened between the legal clinics and nongovernmental organizations, and legal clinics become permanently inscribed in that sector (although they do not directly belong to it),
  6. in a very short time the Foundation gained a strong position among the nongovernmental organizations (a leader of the Nongovernmental Advisory Platform and member of the Board of the Polish NGO Federation),
  7. obtaining of letters of support from the President of the Bar Council and the President of the Council of Legal Advisers,
  8. conducting a session dedicated to legal clinics during the Convention of Deans of Polish Law Faculties in September 2003,
  9. institutionalization and tightening of cooperation with the Ombudsman,
  10. raising and enforcing operational standards among all (!) legal clinics (in the year 2003 nearly all legal clinics signed civil liability insurance agreements, whereas in the year 2002 only two clinics had such an insurance!),
  11. the drafting of the law on legal clinics and participating in a team called by the Ministry of Justice to develop the law on legal assistance (with the stipulation to give due consideration to the character and regulations governing the work of legal clinics);

    Projects carried out:

  12. the members of the Board visited all clinics in existence in Poland, holding repeated meetings with representatives of clinics and university authorities,
  13. organization of the first convention of legal clinics representatives in December 2002 under the auspices of the Foundation,
  14. organization of an international conference dedicated to the clinical education in November 2002,
  15. organization of the First Polish Legal Clinics Conference in Kazimierz in October 2003,
  16. conducting the first Polish "Lawyer pro bono" Competition,
  17. undertaking efforts to publish the first in Poland and in the region textbook - a legal clinics manual;

    Fund-raising:

  18. obtaining support from the Stefan Batory Foundation which allowed to conduct the cyclical regranting competitions for clinics (in the year 2003 eight clinics were granted subsidy),
  19. as a result of efforts of the Foundation, the European Law Students' Association ELSA Poland, which is the legal owner of part of the clinics' equipment (on the basis of a subsidy it obtained over the past years from the Stefan Batory Foundation), has undertaken to formally transfer that equipment to the clinics (universities), furthermore the Foundation enforced the execution by ELSA Poland of its obligation to a number of clinics,
  20. clinics from 12 cities will receive computer equipment of considerable value from the Ministry of Justice,
  21. the Baker & McKenzie law firm donated two computers to legal clinics in Poland, which were adjudicated to the two most needing clinics as a result of a competition,
  22. the Polskie Wydawnictwa Profesjonalnie publishing house donated LEX Omega software, which was given to a clinic after a competition,
  23. the Linklaters international law firm decided to delegate its five lawyers to pro bono work in a clinic,
  24. the Wydawnictwo C.H. Beck publishing house donated 15 sets of legal information software (sets of laws with commentaries) to legal clinics.


The total value of the financial means, equipment and computer software donated and contracted by the Legal Clinics Foundations to the legal clinics amounted to 220,000 PLN.

Activities planned for the future

After more than two years of work relating to incorporating the Foundation, carrying our a number of important projects and realizing objectives relating to supplying financial and professional support to legal clinics, beside granting activities, the Foundation will undertake a number of educational and other activities aimed at strengthening the legal clinics. These initiatives will focus on:
  1. professionalizing and standardizing the clinics' operations,
  2. publishing activity,
  3. coordinating and perfecting cooperation between clinics,
  4. keeping an archive of publications relating to legal clinics and keeping statistical data,
  5. improving the supply of IT and other equipment,
  6. promoting legal clinic activities,
  7. forging and strengthening international cooperation,
  8. lobbying for reforms of legal corporations,
  9. works aimed at incorporating legal clinics into the Polish legal system,
  10. monitoring of the application of law and quality of new laws,
  11. complementing the clinics' activities with cooperation with the Stefan Batory Foundation in relation to the phenomenon of corruption,
  12. broadening the scope of clinics' activities by introducing advising to women and nongovernmental organizations,
  13. training on citizen rights and duties in relation to Poland's membership in the European Union.


Professionalization and standardization of clinic activities - this is scheduled to be the key objective for the future. Reaching this objective will first of all strengthen the position of the individual clinics and secure them with a stable future and appreciation within the legal community. This objective will be accomplished through subsidizing training, conferences, seminars and publications.

Publishing activity - following the first manual entitled: "The Legal Clinic - the Idea, Organization, Methodology," the Foundation is planning to publish a textbook focusing exclusively on the methodology of teaching law in legal clinics. The textbook will be created within a year and will be edited by Dr. hab. Fryderyk Zoll.

Coordinating and perfecting cooperation between clinics - this objective will be reached mainly through the participation of clinic representatives in country-level meetings and the personal contacts of the Board of the Legal Clinics Foundation with the staff of the various clinics (for example all clinics will be visited on a regular basis, in Warsaw cyclical training of clinic staff will be held). Moreover, the Board of the Foundation wishes to maintain the tradition of organizing one yearly Polish Legal Clinics Conference.

Keeping an archive of publications relating to legal clinics and keeping statistical data - the Board of the Foundation shall collect all materials relating to the activities of legal clinics in Poland and abroad thus building an archive of publications and articles. Collecting of half-yearly and yearly reports and of statistical data on the activities of the clinics will make it possible to obtain comparative data, and to determine the trends and directions in which legal clinics should evolve. This data will also present a statistical profile of clients, which will make it possible to determine whether clinics make correct choices as to the type of advice and legal information they offer.

Improving the supply of IT and other equipment - regranting subsidies and in-kind donations from corporations and law firms will allow to organize grant competitions for legal clinics in Poland. The equipment purchased will be supplied to developing and newly forged clinics.

Promoting legal clinics activities - fulfilling this objective will both serve the clinics (building a positive image) and enhance the clinics' ability to reach clients. To this end leaflets will be printed to inform of the activities and the addressed of legal clinics in Poland, cooperation will be forged with the largest law firms and legal corporations and the website will be continued and updated. It is also important to continue the information campaign about legal clinics targeted at local governments and state administration, so that legal clinics are considered a permanent and serious institution. Administration offices should learn to trust and appreciate legal clinics, which will encourage them to lend the students every assistance when students approach those offices on behalf of their clients.

Forging and strengthening international cooperation - the Polish program of clinical teaching of law is at present one of the leading programs of the kind in our region, it should therefore share its experience and initiate the creation of new clinics in the region. In the near future it should be considered to invite guests from other countries of Central and Eastern Europe to participate in trainings, courses and study visits. Representatives of the Foundation take part in international clinic-related conferences. Plans for the future include the organization of weekly or fortnightly courses/scholarships to the USA for clinic supervisors. This project would allow scholarship holders to learn at first hand how the clinical program functions in the USA, to learn the methodology of clinical work and the program of strengthening the clinic's position at the faculties of law. The American partner in this project is the New York Columbia University and the Catholic University of America in Washington. This objective demands long-term preparation and the acquiring of significant financing resources.

Lobbying for reforms of legal corporations - this objective will be realized mostly in cooperation with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and is related to a legal campaign currently under preparation to lobby for changes in a number of regulations that hinder the functioning of legal advising organizations in Poland. Furthermore, our Foundation would like to carry out a program to encourage practicing lawyers to undertake pro publico bono work. This program is also to be carried out in cooperation with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and is a long-term undertaking. It will require lengthy preparation and will be preceded by a pilot program in which selected nongovernmental organizations will be prepared to receive the assistance of practicing lawyers and to conscientiously cooperate with the regional lawyers' legal advisers' corporations. Moreover, this objective is already being fulfilled by the organization of the yearly "Pro bono Lawyer" Competition.

Works aimed at incorporating legal clinics into the Polish legal system - on the basis of a first draft law on legal clinics, prepared in 1998 by the Legal Clinic in Kraków, the Foundation Board has presented an amended version thereof to the Ministry of Justice and was invited to participate in the creation of the draft law on access to legal assistance. In its principle the new law shall give due consideration to the character of clinical work and shall furnish it with special rights.

Monitoring of the application of law and the quality of new laws - a task of great importance indeed, and one that requires special attention and thorough preparation. We hope that the realization of this idea will be related to the "Third Sector" program of the Stefan Batory Foundation - established on the basis of a grant obtained from the Trust for Civil Society in CEE. The first segment of that project comprises the monitoring of law, the very function our Foundation intends to perform. A similar objective has been assumed by the Nongovernmental Advisory Platform, of which our Foundation is one of the leaders. Therefore, this task may become significant not only to our Foundation but also to cooperating organizations. To aid the effective fulfillment of this task, the Board has prepared a preliminary tool in the form of a reporting questionnaire to be filled out by the clinics.

Complementing the clinic's activities with cooperation with the Stefan Batory Foundation in relation to the phenomenon of corruption - the Legal Clinics Foundation sees the need to join the efforts to monitor the phenomenon of corruption. It will be possible to collect information on conditions that provoke corruption and on cases of corruption from the network of clinics in Poland. For this very reason this issue was included in the Questionnaire to report on the application of the Legal Clinics Foundation subsidy. After the questionnaire is collected it will be possible to analyze and publish its results in the form of a report.

Broadening the scope of clinic's activities by introducing advising to women and nongovernmental organizations - this issue is already present in the clinics' activities. The Questionnaire to report on the application of the Legal Clinics Foundation subsidy makes the distinction between female and male clients, so that after the questionnaires are collected it is possible to generate information on female clinic clients and their problems. A similar solution has been applied to the issue of cooperation with nongovernmental organizations. The information collected will give us additional information on the needs of nongovernmental organizations. At the same time we wish to activate clinics and encourage them to deliver assistance to the organizations of the third sector. To the above effect we are planning to broaden our cooperation with the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland and the SPLOT Association.

Training on citizen rights and duties in relation to Poland's membership in the European Union - after accession to the European Union many rules have changed and been modified, first of all in respect to court ruling. The ruling process and the interpretation and formal methods were supplemented by: the principle of primacy of Community Law, the principle of direct applicability of Community Law, the principle of direct effect of Community Law, the principle of interpretation in line with Community Law, the principle of liability of the Communities and Member States for damages, and an entire system of preliminary rulings. It is worth giving future lawyers a broader training therein and make them aware of the fact that the Community law is an important point of reference for our legal order, and disseminating this knowledge among citizens as widely as possible.