Description

The Legal Clinic for Refugees in Tirana started operations in October 2001 as a UNHCR subproject. First it was part of the 'Center for Peace through Justice', an Albanian NGO active in the field of human rights. It is now an independent agency that provides pro bono legal assistance to asylum seekers, affiliated with the Faculty of Law at Tirana University. The clinic continues to be an implementing partner of UNHCR and it has also successfully cooperated with other organizations active in the refugee and asylum field, namely the Directorate for Refugees, Ministry of Public Order, RMSA and ACHO.

Objectives of the Clinic:

Clinic Activities

The clinic accepts an average of five third-year law students each academic year, who get actively involved in country of origin research, legal research, drafting submissions, interviewing asylum-seekers, and accompanying clients to official interviews with representatives of the national authorities. Students are trained and supervised by five professors, two teaching assistants and four legal practitioners. Work in the refugee law clinic is recognized as part of the law school curriculum. The clinic has also organized workshops and seminars for students on specific refugee issues, such as age/gender-related persecution, non-state agents of persecution, country of origin research techniques, the 1951 Convention, and exclusion/cessation clauses.

Academic years 2001/2002 and 2002/2003:

• 111 asylum seekers (including minors) interviewed;
• 109 asylum seekers (including minors) counseled;
• 98 asylum seekers (including minors) represented at first instance;
• 10 asylum seekers represented in appeal stages;
• 7 asylum seekers recognized as refugees;
• 4 asylum seekers granted a subsidiary protection status;
• 39 precedent-setting cases.

Contact information

Zhan Dark blvd, Kulla V, Kati 11.
Tirana, Albania


Tel/Fax: +355 4 269307


Email:
legalclinic@albaniaonline.net

hkotherjaptj@albmail.com