Phoenix Legal Clinic (hereinafter – the Legal Clinic) is a structural unit of Kyiv University of Law of the NAS of Ukraine. By participating in its work, students systematize their knowledge and apply it in practice when handling visitors’ cases, providing consultations, and taking part in other Legal Clinic activities.

The Phoenix Legal Clinic was established as a structural unit of the University by an order of Acting Rector of Kyiv University of Law of the NAS of Ukraine Yurii L. Boshytskyi dated 29 August 2007, No. 287.

The purpose of the Legal Clinic is to introduce elements of practical legal work into the educational process for students of Kyiv University of Law of the NAS of Ukraine by providing free legal assistance to socially vulnerable groups and conducting legal-awareness activities.

 The objectives of the Legal Clinic are:

• to improve the practical knowledge, abilities, and skills of University students;
• to ensure access to legal assistance for socially vulnerable groups;
• to foster citizens’ legal culture;
• to educate and train University students in accordance with the principles of the rule of law, personal honour and dignity, and justice;
• to provide placements where University students can complete academic and professional internships;
• to introduce students to the practical aspects of the legal profession during the educational process;
• to help future lawyers acquire skills in managing a future client’s case and develop an understanding of the importance and role of the legal profession in public life;
• to provide free legal assistance to socially vulnerable citizens;
• to conduct public legal-education activities;
• to create an effective mechanism for exchanging information among the public, the media, and the Legal Clinic, enabling a prompt response to citizens’ practical needs;
• to conduct legal-education, legal-awareness, and other educational and practical events with practitioners from various areas of legal work;
• to cooperate with other legal clinics at higher education institutions in Ukraine and abroad.

The main areas of the Legal Clinic’s work:

• helping students acquire legal counselling and legal-document drafting skills by providing free legal assistance to socially vulnerable groups;
• ensuring that students who intend to provide consultations at the Legal Clinic study the specialized course “Fundamentals of Legal Clinical Practice”;
• conducting thematic classes for Legal Clinic participants, including through interactive methods;
• holding meetings, training sessions, master classes, guest lectures, and practical classes for Legal Clinic participants with practitioners from various legal fields;
• conducting legal-education events on current legal issues;
• cooperating with other legal clinics, human-rights organizations, public authorities, local-government bodies, and others;
• facilitating the participation of Legal Clinic members in conferences, training sessions, master classes, and other professional events.

In 2021, the Phoenix Legal Clinic became a member of the Association of Legal Clinics of Ukraine. The legal clinical movement provides systematic training for lawyers who are ready for professional practice, thereby helping to strengthen the rule of law, access to justice, and legal culture in Ukrainian society.

In its work, the Legal Clinic cooperates closely with public authorities and civil-society organizations in conducting public legal-education activities within the city of Kyiv and Kyiv Region.

Features of providing free legal assistance

Free legal assistance is provided on the following matters:

• protection of the constitutional rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens;
• civil, labour, agricultural, housing, land, family, and international law, social security, and related matters;
• legal regulation of business activities carried out by low-income groups;
• protection of young people’s rights.

Today, both ordinary citizens and any institution find it difficult to manage without a lawyer. An ordinary citizen without specialized legal knowledge cannot be expected to search for, study, and interpret laws and other regulations in order to resolve a problem. It is sufficient for citizens to know their rights and obligations. Professional awareness and competence are another matter. Higher legal education must address this task. This raises the need to develop well-prepared professionals capable of performing complex tasks related to implementing new legislation that must serve the interests of Ukrainian citizens while also safeguarding the interests of the state as a whole. Participation in Legal Clinic programmes gives students an opportunity to communicate directly with people who genuinely need legal assistance. This helps them develop communication, information-analysis, and psychological skills that every lawyer needs in everyday work. Aspiring lawyers seek to acquire these skills because they understand that the skills will be useful and help them build a professional career.

Under martial law, legal assistance remains especially important for a wide range of people, including pensioners, persons who have lost their capacity to work, minors and young children, large families, people with low incomes, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, combat veterans (ATO/JFO), survivors of domestic violence, and others. Providing free legal consultations therefore makes it possible to reach a broad range of citizens and better implement programmes supporting their legal protection and legal education.

The opportunity to protect and exercise their rights through the Legal Clinic encourages citizens to defend themselves and makes their actions more effective. It helps dismantle the stereotype that rights are inaccessible and impossible to exercise within today’s distorted system for realizing citizens’ rights. By supporting these initiatives, the Legal Clinic can ensure the sustainable, long-term operation of the clinic through self-sufficiency and support from the educational institution on whose basis it operates.

The range of activities planned in the Clinic’s work is very diverse. It includes organizing scientific and practical seminars, round tables, training sessions, and master

classes for Clinic consultants, as well as holding discussions on legal topics for school pupils and their parents.

The Legal Clinic also promotes its legal assistance online to reach a larger audience and take its work to another legal level. This enables people who need assistance to find answers independently to general theoretical questions that do not require additional interpretation.

 At the same time, this work helps higher education students develop the professional image of a legal practitioner and apply the practical knowledge they have acquired when providing online explanations to citizens who need them.

Since the Phoenix Legal Clinic began operating, it has concluded cooperation agreements with various legal institutions, authorities, and organizations, helping it successfully accomplish the objectives it sets.

Due to the introduction of martial law throughout Ukraine and in order to protect the lives and health of students and visitors/clients, consultations by student clinicians of the Phoenix Legal Clinic are provided remotely. For detailed information, please contact the Legal Clinic by email or telephone.

Our Address
03142 Kyiv, 7-A Akademika Dobrokhotova St.

Rector
Telephone: (044) 409-23-28
Email: rector@kup.edu.ua

Vice-Rector for Academic and Methodological Affairs
Telephone: (044) 424-91-37
Email: prorector@kup.edu.ua

Head of the Phoenix Legal Clinic
Telephone: (066) 847-90-85
Email: phoenix@kup.edu.ua