Under the Feteh Activity in Ethiopia, Millennium Partners assisted a research team in carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the state of clinical legal education (CLE) in the country. Ethiopia already has a promising system of CLE, with programs in place at 34 law schools- a positive step towards enhancing the quality and relevance of the country’s legal education, along with access to justice. The recommendations produced by the assessment include:
- Developing legislative, regulatory, and policy frameworks for CLE
- Integration of legal clinics and legal aid
- Institutional rearrangement of legal clinics
- Redefinition of the scope of the service and teaching aspects of the clinics
- Adequate resource allocation
- Curriculum change and capacity building
- Networking and collaboration
These changes will go far in optimizing the impact of CLEs in Ethiopia, strengthening the effectiveness of the country’s legal education and improving access to justice for vulnerable groups of Ethiopian society.