On 1 May 2018, the Council of Europe launched, in cooperation with the Academy of Justice of Azerbaijan a legal clinic program for law school students. The clinical program started with one-month intensive training course covering sessions on various professional legal skills, as well as human rights/ECHR issues. The course involved 52 law students representing 4 law schools in Azerbaijan.

Upon successful completion of the one-month training course, the selected law students will be engaged in the legal clinic of the Academy of Justice which will give them an opportunity to gain practical legal experience under supervision of lawyers, such as interviewing and advising clients and drafting legal documents, including applications to the European Court of Human Rights.

The program intends by the end of 2018, to strengthen the capacity of the legal clinic of the Academy of Justice to provide qualified free legal consultations to women and vulnerable groups on human rights/ECHR issues by seconding the lawyers from the Project’s trainers’ pool who will also conduct daily coaching of the interns (law students) working in the clinic.

The activity is organized in the framework of the “Application of the European Convention on Human Rights and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in Azerbaijan” project, which is part of the Partnership for Good Governance (PGG) program for Eastern Partnership countries and is funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe.