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Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Durban, South Africa
Joined March 2018

Working in more than 60 countries developing access to justice, legal aid, clinical legal education, law clinics, Street Law legal literacy programmes and para-legalism

Presence in: South Africa
Focus: Other

The Centre for Socio-Legal Studies is based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban South Africa. The Centre specializes in developing programmes on access to justice (including access to health care), legal aid, support for university clinical legal education, Street Law and paralegal programmes. The Centre is run on a volunteer basis and has the following components:

  1. Street Law: The National Street Law Office is based at the Centre and provides support for the UKZN Street Law Programme as well as the national Street Law programmes by developing books and manuals and conducting workshops for universities; education authorities; educational trade unions; law clinics and NGOs. The Programme also runs a Street Law Plus pro bono programme where law clinic and Street Law staff and students provide pro bono support to communities outside of classroom hours. Street Law South Africa coordinates the publication of the Street Law (2015) and Democracy for All (2017) learner and educator manuals.
  2. Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU): IMLU trains police officers, prosecutors, district medical officers, nurses and NGOs how to deal with crimes against women and children and has published a manual to deal with this entitled Crimes against Women and Children: A Medico-legal Guide (2014). It also runs workshops to improve the capacity of district medical officers to deal with forensic investigations effectively, and has published a manual entitled A Guide to Forensic Medicine and Medical Law (2004) which has been adapted for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
  3. Medical Ethics Reference and Advocacy Network (MERAN): MERAN trains health practitioners in ethics and law and conducts advocacy in areas of healthcare where the human rights of patients are being violated. Recently it has made representations regarding the shortage of oncology machines for cancer patients and abuses taking place in the mortuaries.