The Leitner fall `08 team consisted of Fordham Law students Michael Ellis (`09) and Janet Kang (`10). The spring `09 team consisted of Fordham Law students Corina Bogaciu (`09) and Zaid Hydari (`09). Tenisha Cummings (`10), Pouya Gharavi (`10), and Suemyrah Shah (`10) worked on the fall 2009 project. Students were co-supervised by Prof. Chi Mgbako, Julie Hassman, an associate at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, and Helen Shin, an associate at the law firm of Skadden Arps. Description of Fieldwork and Project Outcome: In fall 2008, Leitner clinic students completed international and comparative research for a CHREAA public interest lawsuit focusing on the right to trial within a reasonable time; conducted a human rights training on prisoners’ rights for CHREAA paralegals on the ground in Malawi in November 2008; and filed individual claims on behalf of three Malawian prisoners to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). During the spring 2009 semester, clinic students designed a human rights training focusing on torture for Malawian prison and police officers. The students conducted the training jointly with CHREAA paralegals. Clinic students in the spring semester filed an additional ten petitions with WGAD; a number of these petitons were on behalf of juvenile prisoners. The Leitner Clinic continued its work in the fall of 2009 by conducting Malawian, international, and comparative constitutional law research for two potential lawsuits that CHREAA may file in Malawi High Court focusing on torture in Malawian police stations and the right to be charged within 48 hours of arrest. The Clinic traveled to Malawi in November 2009 and students interviewed prisoners and took affidavits from potential claimants for both lawsuits.
Project Description: The Leitner Clinic has partnered with the Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) to work on several projects focusing on prisoners rights. The Leitner Clinic's work has focused on four major activities: 1) Filing claims with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Malawian Prisoners; 2) Conducting human rights trainings for CHREAA paralegals; 3) Carrying out anti-torture trainings for Malawian police and prison officers; and 4) assisting CHREAA with prisoners rights-related lawsuits.
