Strategic Social Justice Clinic
Strategic Social Justice Clinic
Recruitment for our Strategic Social Justice Clinic and our Immigration and Asylum Clinic for the 2024/25 academic year will open on Tuesday 1 October 2024. Students will be emailed with information about how to apply.
The Strategic Social Justice Clinic (SSJC) is a joint initiative between Central England Law Centre (CELC) and Warwick LinC. It specialises in using public law and other rights-based strategies to address systemic disadvantage and achieve effective change. Students work with the Public Law and Human Rights team at CELC on a variety of projects that CELC would be unable to pursue without our students’ support.
Working in small groups, student volunteers receive supervision, guidance and mentorship from Emma Austin, Solicitor and CELC's Rights in the Community Strategy Lead, alongside Dr Rebecca Munro, Director of Warwick LinC. Emma Austin was awarded the prestigious Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence (WATE): Social Science Faculty Award for 2024.
Our projects are carefully selected to put legal learning into practice, find creative ways of using the law and develop leadership, communication and organisational skills in the social justice sector. Student volunteers are closely involved in devising and delivering project strategies, and not simply completing set tasks.
Strategic Social Justice Clinic Projects
Student feedback (2021-22 Projects):
- "I have developed my research skills, improved my scheduling and organisation, and developed my knowledge of the wider context surrounding public law."
- "Working within a small group as well as the larger project group, has helped me to improve my communication and teamwork skills. I have also developed my presentation, analysis and critical thinking skills. I have developed new skills, working on things that I have not done before, e.g. transcription and interviewing."
- "I think one of the core successes of the project was that it offered lots of insight into how public law works in practice, and how public law practitioners go about their work."
- "I'd like to thank the staff at CELC and the University who organised and facilitated the project - there was clearly a great deal of work and passion going into the project, against what were still inclement circumstances this year. Thank you for supporting us and offering us the opportunities to participate."
"I must say thanks to everyone here. This whole piece of work makes me feel very proud. It really is fantastic that the law centre is in a place where we can take on the initial piece of litigation and then complete a piece of work that brings that legal victory into the real world in order to amplify its effect. Brilliant." Michael Bates, Head of Services CELC Birmingham. Accessing student finance project
"The volunteers and interns we have worked with have been dedicated, passionate and really eager to make positive change. It has been a pleasure working with them and we are very grateful for all of their contributions….. You listen and value our input." IRC Visitors’ Group Advocacy Co-ordinator
Strategic Social Justice Clinic Internships
Each year we aim to offer paid internship positions over the summer break for interns to gain a more intensive, in-depth experience working on SSJC projects and ensure the valuable work of the clinic is able to continue all year round. Internships this year will be supported by the generous donations of alumni, donors and supporters of the University via the Warwick Innovation Fund.
Visit this page for information on current opportunities and volunteering vacancies.
"I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with an expert in the field, who has significant experience of delivering these kind of projects and really knew their stuff. I learned a lot by working in collaboration with them, and watching the project take shape under their guidance. I was also very pleased to have been able to contribute to such an impactful and significant project over the course of the internship. Finally, I found meeting the staff at the law centre, and the opportunity to gain insight into the kinds of work that they do incredibly valuable."
Summer 2022 Intern
"My internship has provided an invaluable opportunity to improve my legal and professional skills massively. I can now synthesise and structure large volumes of material quickly and easily, something that would have shell-shocked me before. I’ve learnt to solve problems in practice, prioritise and mange tasks and to express myself more concisely in written communication."
Summer 2020 Intern