Mission and Objectives

The Essex HR Clinic provides a forum for enabling students to understand through experience how human rights work in practice, and to enhance their knowledge and understanding of particular areas of human rights. With this experience the Essex HR Clinic seeks to complement scholarly study and give students a better understanding of, and keen interest in, the challenges of applying knowledge in real cases and situations, with the objective of realising the practical application of human rights.

The Essex HR Clinic stimulates co-operation and exchange between practitioners and scholars, whose complementary knowledge, skills, and views can improve analysis, inform practice, and advance the protection of human rights.

To advance human rights protection, the Essex HR Clinic partners with lawyers, non-governmental organisations, and inter-governmental organisations engaged in securing human rights and/or dealing with human rights violations.

The Essex HR Clinic has the following objectives:

• Accomplishing the purpose and mission of the University of Essex as a means of helping to fulfil its economic, social, and cultural obligations by addressing global challenges and questions of social justice;
• Effectively and holistically addressing selected human rights issues and the needs and interests of real people;
• Providing a realistic context in which students can practice their general transferable knowledge and applied skills in a way that complements their overall programme of learning;
• Building student awareness of ethics and conduct issues in human rights;
• Providing students with direct experience regarding the role and challenges of providing advice and assistance, of organising and running clinical projects, and generally of the human rights/legal profession in delivering human rights services, securing access to justice and realizing human rights;
• Facilitating and empowering students to take a more active and reflective role in their learning and future professional development.

In all its efforts, the Essex HR Clinic is global in perspective, inclusive and participatory in its decision-making, and collaborative in method.