Clinical legal education and free legal services for migrants and refugees in Colombia: An experience tale

Abstract

The essay reflects on the contributions of Clinical Legal Education to achieve greater access to justice and rights for migrants and refugees in Colombia, based on a specific experience. With this objective in mind, after providing a brief context, the text investigates how the Consultorio Jurídico de la Universidad de los Andes (Bogota, Colombia), and, later, the Legal Clinic for Migrants at the same university, responded to the increasing needs for specialized and free legal services by this population. Thus, the article reflects on the specific challenges involved in advocating for migrants and refugees' rights in the Colombian context. In particular, based on some cases accompanied by the students of the Clinic, this work deepens on the lessons learned and challenges encountered. The article concludes by stating that, in this context, Clinical Legal Education shows its pedagogical and social transformative potential, and, at the same time, it is an occasion to critically reflect on the limits of the law and on the ethical conflicts that underlie the legal profession.