Asylum Law Clinic

Since 2002, first year Master’s students of law at the Trnava University have the opportunity to enroll for an optional two-term course Asylum Law Clinic. Encompassing both theoretical and practical part, the course represents a unique way of educating law students. While the theoretical part is conducted at the Faculty of Law, the latter is realized under the supervision of Human Rights League lawyers (until 2005 of those of the Slovak Helsinki Committee) and collaborating lawyers. Students get the opportunity to observe lawyers providing an actual legal assistance, they learn to apply law in practice through writing legal papers (legal remedies, accusations, pronouncements), search for relevant backup information (e.g. country of origin information), attend court hearings at regional courts and the Supreme Court in cases of asylum, deportation and other proceedings, accompany foreigners to state institutions and communicate with lawyers about individual cases.

Apart from that, students attend the Simulated court trial annually organized in one of the Central Europe countries. In 2013 the trial took place in Brno, Czech republic, and the Trnava University law students even won this year’s edition. Upon completion of the Asylum Law Clinic, students should have an overview on legal regulations of asylum, refugee and foreign law, they should be capable of writing relevant legal papers and provide legal counselling to asylum seekers, asylants, persons granted subsidiary protection and other foreigners.