University of the Free State UFS Law Clinic

Background of the UFS Law Clinic

The University of the Free State’s Law Clinic falls under the Faculty of Law, Department of Public Law. The UFS Law Clinic was established in the late 1980s on the initiative of staff members in the Faculty of Law and senior Law students.
 
Initially, it was conducted solely as an advice office, where senior Law students would advise economically impoverished members of the local community on various legal problems.
For a number of years, the UFS Law Clinic, in co-operation with the Legal Aid Board of South Africa, operated from the same offices as the Bloemfontein Justice Centre. In 2007, this co-operation was terminated and since 1 March 2007 the clinic is conducted independently as a faculty centre on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State.

Mission

• the provision of free legal services to the indigent society of the greater Mangaung area in the Free State Province that qualify in terms of a means test;
• the provision of practical legal training to final-year Law students; and
• exposing final-year Law students to various aspects of legal practice and community engagement.

Goals and objectives

• collaboration and cooperation with all stakeholders regarding socio-economic and legal issues in order to create general access to justice for the community it serves; and
• to operate within the University of the Free State’s declared policy of community service and service learning in order to engage with the community, in terms of which the community will benefit through access to justice and the student benefits through the attainment of legal skills and the development of a positive attitude to civic responsibility.