McCrimmon, Les A --- "Transforming legal education into justice education: GAJE" [2000] ALRCRefJl 10; (2000) 76 Australian Law Reform Commission Reform Journal 48

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Reform Issue 76 Autumn 2000

This article appeared on pages 48 – 49 & 106 of the original journal.

Transforming legal education into justice education: GAJE

By Les A McCrimmon*

In 1996 a small group of legal educators, lawyers, judges and activists met in Sydney, Australia, to discuss the formation of an international organisation committed to the promotion of socially relevant legal education. Three years later, in December 1999, the inaugural conference of the Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE) was held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The conference was attended by 125 delegates from 19 countries. Delegates included law teachers, judges, practitioners, activists and students from law schools in the Kerala region.

_{Pre-conference discussions on day one addressed the theoretical and practical issues facing those who wish to inculcate a justice dimension into legal education. The conference itself addressed a variety of issues in plenary and breakout sessions over three days. Topics included: a global perspective on justice education; community based justice education, advancing women’s rights, integrating gender into justice education, working with non-governmental organisations, teaching legal skills and social justice through street law, law clinics in developing countries, collaborations between law teachers and activists, using technology for cross-national collaboration, and collaborative research and justice education. Finally, a six-day workshop was devoted to training trainers for justice education.}

Delegates also had the opportunity to visit the Lok Adalats, or People’s Court, in Thiruvananthapuram. The Lok Adalats are an additional dispute resolution process, operative in the region since the mid-1970s, designed to resolve disputes without recourse to the rigour and expense of courts.

In keeping with the theme of ‘Globalisation and the law’ in this special issue of Reform, this comment focuses on how GAJE came into being, and the future of the fledgling alliance. For those interested in what occurred at the inaugural conference, a detailed report on the conference and workshops can be found on the GAJE website.

History of GAJE¹

Australia has played a very important role in the transformation of GAJE from vision to reality. The meeting held in Sydney in 1996 was prompted by informal discussions at a number of previous international conferences, including the 1996 Association of American Law Schools clinical conference in Miami, Florida, and a three-week workshop on clinical teaching methods held at the National Law School of India in 1995. The participants at the Sydney meeting came from 11 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Fiji, India, Nigeria, The Republic of South Africa, the UK, and the US.

The discussions in Sydney resulted in the birth of an idea – an international organisation dedicated to justice education – and an action plan to transform the vision into reality. Four organisational goals were identified:

• to establish and maintain an international e-mail listserve, with designated persons to redistribute messages to persons without e-mail access;

• to convene a global conference at a low cost location to ensure participation of delegates from less affluent countries;

• to solicit, receive and administer funds to support the development of innovative justice education, especially in less affluent countries; and

• to serve as a clearinghouse of teaching materials and methods.

A temporary steering committee was established to coordinate the realisation of these goals. Following extensive consultation, the name ‘Global Alliance for Justice Education’ was chosen, and the Southern Indian state of Kerala was chosen as the conference venue for the launch of the alliance.

The future of GAJE

What distinguishes GAJE from other ‘global’ legal organisations?

First, it is not dominated by any one country. This has been an overriding objective of the organisation from its inception, and is reflected in its mission statement:

‘GAJE is GLOBAL, seeking to involve persons from as many countries in the world as possible, avoiding domination by any single country, and especially committed to meaningful participation from less affluent countries, institutions, and organizations. GAJE is an ALLIANCE of persons committed to achieving JUSTICE through legal education. Clinical education of law students is a key component of justice education, but this organization also works to advance other forms of socially relevant legal education, which includes education of practicing lawyers, judges, non-governmental organisations and the lay public.’

Second, drawing from the breadth of the legal profession – including legal educators, practitioners, judges, activists, and law students – results in the sharing of ideas from a wide variety of perspectives. Further, active participation in the organisation by delegates from all regions of the world – both affluent and less affluent, common law and civil law – increases the scope for the organisation’s involvement in a range of justice related issues.

Third, GAJE is sensitive to the needs of members from less affluent countries. By holding the inaugural conference in India, the costs of attending the conference were kept to a minimum. At the inaugural conference, 55 delegates attended on either a full or partial fee waiver, and nine travel/accommodation stipends were awarded. These waivers and stipends were funded primarily from registration fee income.

Finally, maintaining a truly global focus expands the scope and variety of external sources of funding.

The last workshop session of the inaugural conference was entitled, ‘Where do we go from here?’. Approximately 90 delegates gathered to discuss the future of GAJE. A geographically-balanced² nominating committee, charged with the task of nominating the next temporary Steering Committee, was established. It was also agreed that seven committees should be established:

• to draft a constitution for GAJE;

• to share information and ideas regarding different subjects related to justice education;

• to solicit members and consider ways of including more people in the work of GAJE;

• to coordinate training opportunities in various regions around the world;

• to develop further and maintain the GAJE web-site, listserve, etc;

• to put together a report on the inaugural conference; and

• to plan for the next conference, anticipated to be held in 2001 in Durban, Republic of South Africa.

Conclusion

The GAJE inaugural conference was a potent reminder to those in attendance that when we focus on the concept of justice education as a central tenet of the legal profession, we are characterised more by our similarities than by our differences. In an age of increasing globalisation, we must work to break down barriers and share expertise and ideas. It is hoped that GAJE will play a pivotal role in this process.

GAJE is in an early stage of development and, like all newborns, its survival is a key concern to those present at its inception, gestation and birth. It faces many challenges, but those attending the inaugural conference left feeling confident that it will continue to grow and mature.

*Les McCrimmon is Senior Lecturer and Director of Clinical Programs at the University of Sydney, Faculty of Law.

Endnotes

1. Much of the following text concerning the history of GAJE is taken from Professor Frank Bloch’s contribution, ‘About GAJE’, in the inaugural conference program. I have also relied on the minutes of the Working Party Meeting to Establish an International Council for the Advancement of Socially Relevant Legal Education.

2. The regions represented included: Africa, South Asia, Australasia, Southeast and East Asia, North America, South America, West Europe, and East Europe. The only human-populated region not represented at the conference was the Middle East, and it was agreed that this region should be included in the future.