Human Rights Protection in Ukrainian Higher Education: Systemic Gaps and the Role of Legal Clinics in Building a Rights Protection Model

Abstract

This article examines systemic deficiencies in human rights protection within Ukrainian higher education institutions and argues for the role of legal clinics as an institutional mechanism for building an effective rights protection model in the university environment. The relevance of the study stems from a profound gap between the formally declared principles of equality, non-discrimination, and respect for human dignity and the actual mechanisms for their enforcement at the level of individual educational institutions, which is of particular significance in the context of Ukraine’s European integration course and its membership in the European Higher Education Area. Through an analysis of current legislation, including Ukraine’s Constitution, the Laws on Education and Higher Education, and international standards such as the 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and Bologna Process documents, the article demonstrates that an abuse of institutional autonomy, the absence of transparent complaint procedures, and the corporate insularity of ethics commissions together create an administrative vacuum in which student rights are systemically vulnerable. The research establishes that internal university bodies frequently serve as instruments for protecting administrative interests rather than the rights of educational participants, while external oversight mechanisms, including the Educational Ombudsman, lack sufficient powers to effect systemic change. The author argues that legal clinics, combining professional legal expertise, proximity to the student environment, and a legal-education mission, are well-positioned to serve as a structural bridge between declaratory and genuinely enforced rights. At the same time, the article acknowledges a structural limitation inherent in legal clinics, arising from their dependence on university administration, and proposes addressing it through an inter-university client referral mechanism. A three-tier model for integrating legal clinics into universities’ rights protection infrastructure is proposed, encompassing reactive legal protection for those whose rights have been violated, proactive participation in developing anti-discrimination policies and complaint procedures, and systematic monitoring of human rights compliance at the institutional level.