Benjamin B. Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic

Catalog description

The Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention (HRAP) Clinic is the only law school clinic in the country focused on human rights, mass atrocity prevention, accountability and justice for atrocity crimes (war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide). Guided by its original purpose to remember the Holocaust, the Clinic honors the memory of those victims by being responsive to present contexts in which atrocity crimes are perpetrated and identifying contexts in which atrocities might be prevented. In a world with unprecedented numbers of refugees fleeing conflicts and oppression, the Clinic assists victims of human rights abuses and asylum-seekers in reclaiming rights and receiving justice. At the same time, the Clinic gives law students first-hand experience with a wide range of professional skills, focusing on the skills needed to promote respect for human rights and advance accountability, justice and social change. HRAP Clinic projects require students to think strategically about complex legal issues, to approach legal challenges from a multiplicity of angles, and to analyze situations of conflict in which facts are unclear or evolving. HRAP cases provide students the opportunity to hone legal research and writing skills, a mainstay of any lawyer's work. Prerequisite(s): LAW 7261 may be taken as prerequisite or corequisite.