Community Outreach
The Clinical Program at CLB is a leading hub for human and civil rights legal professionals in Israel to pass on knowledge, practice,values and challenges of social justice law to the next generation.
The College, via its Clinical Program, makes legal and business aid available to some of the most disenfranchised populations in Israel and creates far reaching and cutting edge policy changes that shape the social and legal tenor of the entire country.
With students as partners, the Clinical Program’s staff includes some of the leading minds in the fields of law, business and social change, and many graduates have become leading advocates themselves in a broad range of fields.
Our Clinics include:
Clinic for Corporate Responsibility:
In an era where globalization and privatization are placing corporations in a new role on the world stage, it is crucial that they take part in promoting sustainability in a responsible way.
Via legislative work and public awareness raising, this Clinic addresses issues such as aggressive tax structures, sustainability of the food industry, responsible investing, and more.
Clinic for Social Policy Change:
Via position papers, legislative proposals, and litigation in high level courts, this Clinic advances intervention on the legal/policy levels to create societal impact.
Examples of the Clinic’s past focus issues include creation of a social safety net for young women veterans of foster care, justice in land allocation and public resources, regulation in the cosmetics industry and gender issues in medicine, including birth control.
Clinic for the Advancement of Women’s Rights:
This Clinic tackles a broad range of rights issues facing women, especially labor rights.
Via a hotline for individual claims, policy work and education, the Clinic addresses issues such as exclusion of women, discrimination in the workforce, wage gaps, sexual harassment and more.
The Innocence Clinic:
With an understanding that wrongful convictions are common tragic occurrences, this Clinic analyzes cases and identifies issues that cast doubt on the integrity of the legal process, researches related legal questions and submits requests for retrials to the Supreme Court.
Issues that arise include problematic investigations by police, unclear evidence or witnesses, issues of racial profiling and stereotypes and others.
Clinic for Criminal Law and Rights of the Accused:
Aiming to protect the fundamental rights of the detained and imprisoned population, this cutting-edge Clinic promotes issues such as protection of rights during the process of indictment and criminal trials, medical care for the accused and convicted and humane prison conditions. The imprisoned population has little access to the justice system and no public forum in which to advocate for its rights, and this Clinic acts as an advocate for its fundamental rights.
Clinic for the Rights of Migrants and Asylum Seekers:
A population severely marginalized in Israel, migrants and asylum seekers are disenfranchised by the legal structure, which provides little protection from exploitation and abuse of their most basic human rights.
This Clinic focuses on women and children and specifically on issues of legal status on the basis of family relations, freedom from detention, socioeconomic rights and protection from abuse.
Clinic for Community Law:
Providing legal aid and representation to disenfranchised populations,
this Clinic focuses on socio-economic rights and assists individuals who seek help through CLB’s communitybased legal aid centers in Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv- Yaffo.
This Clinic assists individuals on issues of public housing, social security and welfare rights, debt management and consumer rights.
Affecting Social Change
Through its work in its legal clinics, CLB has pioneered the way for combining social action and academic research to bring about meaningful social change.
The enormous potential for such collaboration – not fully realized in the public domain in Israel – should encourage future integration of these forces to achieve social progress.
Here is a selection of CLB’s achievements in the Israeli Supreme Court, which represent remarkable social milestones for society as well as exceptional learning opportunities for CLB students.
Milestones
2017
Protecting the Democratic Process Via a Supreme Court petition, the Clinic succeeded in blocking the passing of a two-year budget that would have prevented the legislative, democratic process that is part of creating an annual budget.
Ensuring Prisoners’ Human Rights in Living Conditions In a Supreme Court decision, submitted by CLB and partner NGOs, the legal standard for size of prisoners’ living quarters was increased.
The decision highlighted the importance of protecting the right to dignity and freedom for prisoners, within the context of their imprisonment.
2016
Protecting the Public Interest in Israel’s Natural Gas Resources In a historic decision in a CLB case in favor of the public interest, the Israeli High Court of Justice accepted our petition and nullified the “Stability Clause,” which run counter to the public’s interest regarding natural gas resources.
2015
Protecting Migrants and Asylum seekers in Israel from Prolonged Detention Via petitions to the Supreme Court, the Clinics and NGO partners succeeded in protecting migrants and asylum seekers in Israel from a prolonged detention.
2009
Fighting the Privatization of Prisons in Israel The Clinic for Social Change succeeded in preventing the privatization of the prison system in Israel, keeping the operations and oversight squarely in the hands of the government.
CLB is supremely proud of its Clinical Program, its achievements over the years and its graduates, many who have become leaders in social policy and change-makers in shaping public discourse on social justice.
