Encouraging the Establishment of Legal Clinics in Broadening Access to Justice for the Poor

Abstract

The right to legal aid is one of human rights that guarantee all persons entitled to lawful protection without discrimination. Compare with the limited number of Advocates with the justice seeker, the Law No. 16 of 2011 on Legal Aid extending the subject of legal aid ie. lecturers and law students. It is supposed to help in realizing the wider access to justice for the poor. It conducted to find how good practices for the establishment and the development of legal clinic according to the Law No. 16 of 2011 and how the empowerment of legal clinic will be broadening access to justice for the poor and their sustainable development. This paper is normative legal research using the qualitative approach, and the data were obtained with interview and observation. The results show that there are 5 (five) important aspects must be accomplished in the establishment of legal clinic ie. the foundation of institutional establishment, human resources, clinical law curriculum and learning system, supporting facilities and funding, implementation of legal aid. Another result shows the goal of peace, justice and strong institutions in the SDGs could be achieved by creating affordable and timely access to justice institutions and legal aid services. The results of this study are expected to encourage faculty of law in Indonesia to establish and develop legal clinics and it will meet the need of the poor to get access to justice in rural area.