Human Rights Clinic students design and implement creative solutions to advance the global struggle for the protection of human rights. Working in small teams with support of Clinic faculty, students’ work may include litigation before national, regional, and international bodies; factual investigation and documentation; interviews with witnesses, experts, and advocates; legal and policy research; report writing; advocacy strategy; and the development of recommendations for law and policy reform.
The Clinic’s docket changes each semester in response to partner needs and evolving human rights challenges. Recent projects have addressed accountability for violence against Indigenous and environmental defenders, abuses at the U.S.-Mexico border, climate-related displacement, reproductive justice in the United States, transnational repression, arbitrary detention in Northeast Syria, chain refoulement from the U.S., and the misuse of counterterrorism and national security measures against civil society.
Students who enroll in the semester-long Human Rights Clinic work under the supervision of Roxanna Altholz, Clinic Director and Clinical Professor of Law, and Helen Kerwin, Supervising Attorney. The clinic benefits from the expert administrative support of Veronica Avila, Office Administrator, and Olivia Layug Balbarin, Director of Administration.
Human Rights Clinic students are required to enroll in the clinic as well as its companion seminar. The clinical component is four credits offered on a credit/no credit basis. In the clinical setting, students work in teams of 2-4 and devote approximately 16 hours per week to their projects (the actual number of hours may vary from week-to-week). Students meet with their assigned teams and faculty supervisor every week throughout the semester. Depending on project needs, students may have opportunities to travel, including during school breaks.
The two-credit companion seminar offers a forum for exploring the links between legal theory and the students’ cases and projects. The seminar provides training on substantive human rights norms, exposes students to the various types of human rights work (e.g., monitoring, litigation, policy, legislation, research), encourages students to think critically about the goals and trade-offs of human rights methodologies, offers a structured context in which to reflect on the lawyering process, and provides students with the opportunity to present aspects of casework for group feedback and discussion.
Enrollment in the clinic (4 units) and seminar (2 units) is by faculty authorization only. Because of project demands, clinic students may not enroll concurrently in another clinic or field placement. Prior or concurrent enrollment in an international law course (e.g., International Law, International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law) is recommended but not required.
