Central America

Overview
The LACEC Central America sub-program focuses currently solely on Mexico. The initiative to launch clinical programs in Mexico started in January 2004, when the Justice Initiative organized the first Mexican CLE conference and invited more than ten law schools to participate. In late 2004, the first pilot legal clinic focusing on children rights was initiated at CIDE law school in Mexico City, in cooperation with the Office for Protection of Children-ODI and the Justice Initiative. In parallel, the law department of ITAM University also launched a pilot project on providing legal aid to vulnerable groups with participation of senior law students.

Objectives
A. to support the creation of university legal clinics in Mexico;
B. to provide capacity building and legal education reform support for involved universities;
C. to organize inter-clinical exchange programs with the purpose of stimulating networking and future cooperation on specific matters of public interest;

Project and Activities
1. Promoting Children Rights Clinics in Mexico
The project aims at assisting the NGO ODI and CIDE clinic in creating training and representation materials for lawyers that would like to specialize in children rights and also in providing free legal assistance in public interest cases involving children. Starting 2005, 5 students from CIDE every year undertake internships with ODI and provide legal assistance in cases involving children as victims of crime. The cases are selected by the team of lawyers from ODI and supervising lawyer at CIDE clinic, with active participation of students involved. Students undertake training course at the university before they proceed with the practical work at ODI. The Justice Initiative has provided its children/juvenile rights materials for the development of the project and currently is involved in development of training materials for clinical programs in Mexico – a publication of teachers and students guidebooks to be finalized by mid-2008.

2. Promoting Public Interest Law Clinics in Mexico
The project was initiated in June 2005 and is an initiative of the ITAM law school legal clinic in Mexico city, and the Justice Initiative. The project aims at introducing the concept of public interest law into the academic field. Main project activities involve the work of law students with public interest lawyers to develop cases in the field and also materials on public interest litigation. Materials are expected to be published and finalized by the end of 2007.