The clinic as an innovation project

Interdisciplinary and intercultural competencies as well as transfer and practical orientation are among the core strengths of the Global Justice Clinic Erfurt, which it introduces to students through cross-university, hybrid teaching formats. The innovative "Clinical Education in Global Justice" program was developed in the constitutional studies courses in order to strengthen international links in legal teaching. In the seminars, students combine legal content with experience-based and research-based learning to work on real practical cases for the benefit of disadvantaged people seeking justice.

The Global Justice Clinic enables students to work independently on complex legal issues in international and interdisciplinary teams and to (self-)critically reflect on the role of law for social change and global justice. It is precisely through contact with practical cases and concrete injustices that students learn that law is by no means neutral and can consciously deal with privileges, prejudices and social responsibility. In addition to legal content, the Clinic was further developed with an outreach program so that students also acquire interdisciplinary media and communication skills to contribute to the transfer of social knowledge. As a result, the Global Justice Clinic has not only been anchored in the study regulations of Master's degree courses, but is now also accessible to Bachelor's students.

Cooperation and collaboration are also a top priority at the Clinic. Partner organizations from civil society, business and administration are permanently involved in the selection and processing of practical cases, the supervision of student teams, the utilization of the work results for those affected and the transfer of knowledge to society. In addition to cooperation with local practice partners, the program also incorporates cooperation in global clinic networks and learning partnerships, in which students from Erfurt learn together with students from the Global South on a case-by-case basis.