Legal clinic as a socio-educational institution: transformation of its activities under martial law

Abstract

The article examines the need to update the functional purpose of legal clinics under conditions of martial law. It is substantiated that the modern development of legal education, based on the competency-based approach, determines the increasing role of legal clinics as an effective tool for developing professional competencies of future lawyers, combining theoretical training with practical activity and acquiring law enforcement experience. Based on the analysis of scientific and practical approaches to defining the essence and functions of legal clinics, as well as the development of the clinical legal education movement in Ukraine, including existing approaches to its periodization, a tendency towards the gradual expansion of their functional purpose and increasing complexity of their activities has been identified.
It is established that under martial law the nature of legal needs of legal clinic participants is changing, acquiring a complex character and combining legal, social, and psycho-emotional aspects. At the same time, it is substantiated that the activities of legal clinics are carried out within a multi-layer vulnerability environment, which includes not only clients but also law students, academic staff, and other participants of the clinical process, resulting in additional psycho-emotional burden and affecting the effectiveness of interaction.
The study confirms the importance of applying a psychologically sensitive approach to legal assistance and determines its significance for the effectiveness of clinical activity. It is proved that under martial law this approach should be expanded by taking into account the psycho-emotional condition of law students, who may act not only as providers of legal assistance but also as individuals with their own traumatic experience, which affects the process of professional training and learning outcomes.
As a result of the research, theoretical approaches to updating the activities of legal clinics are proposed, including the integration of a psychologically sensitive component into educational and practical activities, the development of reflective and supervisory practices, as well as the formation of a dual-oriented model of clinical legal education.