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Law students carry out legal research for local NGOs
Lecturer: Mary Rogan
As part of the LL.B in Law, students taking a module entitled 'Law in Society', work with the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) sector to provide research support and advice to such organisations active in the legal area.
In 2009/10 Students worked with the Irish Penal Reform Trust which is Ireland's leading non governmental organisation campaigning for rights in the penal system and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy. The Irish Penal Reform Trust was undertaking a research project on Youth Justice in Ireland and as part of its research asked DIT students to find out the following:
1. The options available to a judge when sentencing a child and, specifically, the options a judge has as alternatives to custody under the Children Act 2001
2. How often have these options been used to date and whether there are differences in their use across the country. The students worked in groups to carry out this research and presented their findings back to the Irish Penal Reform Trust
What do the students get from it?
The module provides students with an opportunity to practise their legal skills in a real-world context, while also assisting NGOs. It improves the legal research skills of students, but also assists them in developing a variety of other attributes such as presentation skills, collaboration, consultation and responsiveness to the needs of clients, as well as an awareness of ethical duties and obligations.
What does the community get from it?
Many NGOs working in the legal sector operate on tight budgets and have few staff able to dedicate their time to research of this nature. Their need for up-to-date research can be assisted by a formalized, structured and supervised process whereby students carry out necessary investigations. The NGO involved also receives a presentation of the research findings in oral and written formats, presented in an accessible way and tailored to the NGO audience.
Community Partner:
