LEGAL AID CLINIC

AND THE PROVISION OF ACCESS TO

JUSTICE FOR THE COMMUNITY IN NEED

By:

Siti Naaishah Hambali

Nazura Abdul Manap

Safinaz Mohd Hussein

Mahmud Zuhdi Mohd Nor

Rizal Rahman

A legal aid clinic (LAC) is a form of community

work run by the law students and members of the

faculty in most law schools around the world, be it

from the commonwealth or civil legal system.

However, the legal aid

clinic activity/program run

by the Law Faculty in

UKM in the past was done

in ad-hoc manner rather

than one formally

established.

At the same time, in a meeting of the Law Deans

of the Faculty of Laws in Malaysia, Attorney

General and the Bar Council in 2010, the Faculty

was asked to contribute in helping to ease the

burden of cases handled by Legal Aid Department

(JBG) and Legal Aid Centre.

The Attorney General, the

Legal Aid Department and the

Malaysian Bar Council also

agreed in principle to offer

training and case referral

should the need arises.

The National Legal Aid

Foundation (Yayasan Bantuan

Guaman) was launched in

February 2011 that demanded

a more concerted commit-

ment from the Law Faculty.

This includes providing space and related facilities

and expertise of faculty members who are willing

to contribute for the operation of the centre.

However the legal aid clinic could not be

developed further due to lack of space at the Law

Faculty.

Location?

One of the team member explored for a suitable

place and found a strategic location at level three of

the UNIKEB building but used up by UNIKEB.

She then negotiated with UNIKEB by personally offering

corporate and legal advice without any charges but in return

UNIKEB to allow free usage of the present site for the clinic.

Further discussion led to an agreement between UKM and

UNIKEB to have this clinic as a joint project between UKM

and UNIKEB.

Both parties to jointly promote the clinic – recently the Bt Cerakah

programme that attracted the minister of KPDNKK to invite us to

collaborate with them

Both UKM through its staff( Law lecturers) and UNIKEB through its

members and associates (who are lawyers) to provide free legal advice

to the needy member of the society.

T & C include:UKM through one of the

team members to give free

corporate and legal advise

UNIKEB agreed for some

areas of UNIKEB premise to

be used as the clinic premise

1) To build and extend the community services profile of

the Faculty of Law of UKM by providing a sustainable

free legal advice for the community in needThe LAC serves both the internal (UKM) as well as external community, on any

legal issues.

The target is for community who are not able to afford legal services due to the

size of their income.

Objectives

2) Enhancement of clinical legal education domain

For students pursuing the program of study at the Law Faculty of

UKM, clinical legal education is an important area to ensure the

employability of graduates (graduate employability) in the legal

profession.

The LAC aims to provide practical training to the students under the

supervision of voluntary legal practitioners and lecturers, by exposing

the students to the actual situation of pro bono handling of clients.

3) Enhancement of legal research domain through the activities

carried out by the LAC, including the issue of legal aid for the

poor in criminal cases, civil and others

4) Promoting smart partnership between UKM Law Faculty and

industry

An agreement between UKM and UNIKEB to jointly

undertake this project has further aspired the Law Faculty to

enhance its venture with entities from the industries.

Discussion and negotiations with the Malaysian Bar Council

and Malaysian Legal Aid Department is underway to further

enhance the services of the clinic.

Recent development:

Selangor State Bar currently runs their Bar

Council Legal Aid Centres in Shah Alam and

Kuala Selangor.

Since they do not have any centres around Bangi and

nearby areas, we have offered them to operate from

the clinic on certain days every month. They have

agreed.

The Structure And Mode Of Operation

Any member of the public can come to the LAC for clarification of their legal

problems. Upon registration as clients, they will be given legal advice regarding

their problems and the method of solution. If necessary the clients will be

referred to other suitable agencies for further action. The LAC has the right not

to give advisory service in certain circumstances.

The Structure And Mode Of Operation

Cases handled by the LAC range from civil to syariah matters. These include

civil cases related to divorce, right to see and visit child in custody, jointly

acquired property, child abuse, adoption, custody, probate/ will, land matters,

consumerism, labour law, bankruptcy, accidents, lease, rent, hire purchase,

loan; and syariah cases related to talaq, maintenance, jointly acquired property,

faraid, Islamic family law, hadhanah, will/hibah, syariah offences.

Ad alert!

The clinic is open throughout UKM education semester period from Monday to

Friday (10am - 4pm), and closed during public holidays and semester breaks. We

also offer mobile legal aids in conjunction with community events, whenever

necessary.

We are located at Level 3, Wisma Unikeb, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600

UKM Bangi, Selangor.

Phone: +603 89214919

Email: kbg@ukm.my Website: http://www.kbgukm.com

http://www.ukm.my/klinikguaman

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