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The clinic offers students a unique experience, as facilitating the workshop affords them a first-hand encounter with both disadvantaged populations and the importance of ensuring the judiciary's accessibility to the public
Program Director
Adv. Ziv Lidror
The “Street Law” Program is a legal clinic at the Harry Radzyner Law. At the core of the Street Law Program lies the concept that knowledge is power, and that in a world full of legalities, legal knowledge is essential to making the law accessible to underprivileged populations. In the framework of the program, law students conduct a legal workshop for underprivileged populations — including youth at risk, prisoners, and victims of domestic violence — who are familiar with the justice system from the other side, either as violators of the law or as victims. The purpose of the workshop is to provide its participants with legal knowledge while affording them an empowering learning experience. The clinic also allows students to explore the field of policy change concerning the clinic's target population.
Participation in the clinic offers the students exposure to disadvantaged groups and highlights the importance of making the judiciary accessible to the entire population. The students are responsible for formulating the content of the workshop and the methods for delivering it, in accordance with the target audience, and receive for this purpose support that includes tools (legal and otherwise) to guide the unique population groups with whom they are working. The practical work is reflected upon in class, with regards to the use of law as an instrument to promote equality and effect social change. The main goals of the program vis-à-vis the workshop’s participants are to provide them with an opportunity to observe the legal system, to which they had previously been exposed from a narrow and often negative angle, in a new, enriching and broader way, as well as to teach them normative ways of coping and equip them with tools to overcome the difficulties they encounter in their day-to-day lives.
As part of the clinic's practical aspects, the students prepare and conduct a weekly legal workshop focusing on the areas of law that affect the lives of the participants — minors, young adults, and older adults — on a daily basis. Among the topics covered in the workshop are the importance of the legal and justice system, law and welfare (with an emphasis on the rights and obligations of children and adolescents at work, in the family, and in encounters with governmental and institutional authorities), domestic violence, conflict resolution, consumerism, criminal law, and in particular issues such as the prevention of violence and of drug and alcohol abuse. The workshops' teaching methods are interactive and seek to promote dialogue and provide participants with opportunities to develop communication and critical thinking skills. The workshop exposes participants to the legal system and teaches them about their obligations and rights under the law. The workshop usually spans one year, and towards the end of the academic year, its participants stage a mock trial facilitated by the students. During 2020, the clinic developed a work model adapted to the realities of social distancing, which included the option of project-based work with the participants.
The student teams operate in 8-10 locations in central Israel and the Sharon region, including centers for girls at risk, hostels, juvenile correction facilities, adult probation service groups, women’s shelters, and prisons. In addition to cooperation with the Israel Prison Service, which is unique to Reichman University, as well as with the juvenile correction system, in recent years our circle of partners has expanded to include female victims of violence, released prisoners, and the Adult and Juvenile Probation Services, which also have a dedicated program for the Arab sector.
In the wake of COVID-19, the program’s work model was adapted to the target populations and the crises raised by the pandemic, with some of the insights gained during this period incorporated even afterwards, in particular with regards to people under house arrest and youth in the Arab sector.
The students undergo a training process consisting of two tiers that overlap to a certain extent. The first, more theoretical, tier includes classes that teach the students about the various laws pertaining to minors, the work of the Juvenile Probation Service, and the structure of the educational, therapeutic and rehabilitation system for youth, as well as about the principles of empowerment and community legal practices, social rights, and the use of the law as an instrument of social change. The second tier provides students with legal tools such as critical thinking and other tools they need to effectively lead the workshop, including tools from the fields of law, social work and education to facilitate groups comprising the unique populations with which they work.
The clinic’s academic portion consists of intensive training days (most of which take place during the mentoring week, subject to class constraints) and a weekly class. On top of the regular required reading between classes, two short writing assignments are given during the year, and a mock trial is staged. The practical work includes the preparation of lesson plans (including team meetings) and their delivery. It should be taken into account that ahead of the mock trial (or other capstone project), significant flexibility is required in terms of the scope of the practical work. The students’ grades will be composed of the quality of the practical work, active participation in lessons, and the written assignments (details will be given at the beginning of the year).
For additional information, please contact Program Director Ziv Lidror at zlidror@runi.ac.il
