The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bangladesh Inaugurated ‘East West University Law Clinic’
Apr 09, 2023
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bangladesh Mr. Justice Hasan Foez Siddique inaugurated the ‘East West University Law Clinic’ with a grand ceremony on 08 April 2023, Saturday at East West University (EWU). The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bangladesh graced the ceremony as the Chief Guest. Professor M. M. Shahidul Hassan, PhD, Vice Chancellor, East West University was the Guest of Honor. Professor Dr. Mohammed Farashuddin, Chief Adviser and Founder Vice Chancellor, East West University gracefully chaired the ceremony. The ceremony started with the opening remarks from the Guest of Honor, Dr. M. M. Shahidul Hassan, PhD. The opening remarks was followed by a brief description of the EWU Law Clinic by Professor Dr. Muhammad Ekramul Haque, Adviser, Department of Law, East West University.
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Mr. Justice Hasan Foez Siddique delivered the speech of the Chief Guest. His speech was followed by a Question/Answer session. The ceremony ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Md. Mehedi Hasan, Chairperson, Department of Law, East West University. Law Clinic is a key component of clinical legal education (CLE), a combination of teaching practical knowledge and skills necessary for a legal practitioner with a commitment to pro bono lawyering. The motto of clinical legal education is ‘learning by doing’. In many places in the world, clinical legal education is called justice education as it aims to build the capacity of the students to strive for social justice. Law Clinic was first established in Bangladesh in the early 1990s at the University of Dhaka. EWU has introduced a compulsory credited model of law clinic, classified as the mixed model of law clinic. This pioneering model is the brainchild of the visionary Professor Dr. Muhammad Ekramul Haque, Adviser, Department of Law, EWU. It is compulsory for every final-year student of the Department to complete the Law Clinic, where they will learn practical aspects of law and legal procedure (civil, criminal and write) in a courtroom setting through various interactive methods. The students are taught ‘law in action’ by the best legal minds in Bangladesh. In one of the earlier sessions, Dr. Kamal Hossain, Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee in the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh and Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, taught the students professional ethics, rules and etiquette. Barrister M. Amirul Islam, the drafter of the Proclamation of Independence of Bangladesh and Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh delivered a lecture on ‘challenges to become a lawyer’. The EWU Law Clinic is a landmark in the history of legal education in Bangladesh, being the first private university in Bangladesh to incorporate clinical legal education into the curriculum as a compulsory credit.
Dr. Rafiqul Huda Chaudhury, Member, Board of Trustees, EWU, Mr. H. N. Ashequr Rahman, MP, Member, Board of Trustees, EWU and Mr. Nowshad Shamsul Arefin, Member, Board of Trustees, along with Air Cdre (retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Treasurer, Deans, Faculty members, Officers, Staff, and a large number of students at the university were also present on the occasion.
