Head of UNDP Office in Gaza, Dr. Nicholas Hercules, accompanied with Mr. Basil Nasser and Ibrahim Abu Shammalah, visited IUG today to support the Legal Center of Sharia and Law Faculty, and attended the third stage launch of the legal center project.
Dr. Kamalain K. Sha’ath, IUG President, and IUG staff members , including the Faculty of Sharia and Law members, received the delegation.
Dr. Sha’ath talked about the IUG history , programs and centers , that include Deaf teaching program for deaf students and Irada project for the disabled people after the Gaza war.
Dr. Hercules confirmed that the cooperation between the UNDP and IUG will continue and there will be a support for the legal unit policies.
Dr Mohamed Al Nahal, project leader and Associate Professor of International Law, at the Faculty of Sharia and Law, said the project, which was launched in August 2011, has already had many successes, including the release of detained persons through representing them in court, and the settlement of several inheritance disputes.
“There have been more than a thousand free consultations in the last two years,” Dr Nahal said. “It combines training law students in practical legal skills with providing a much-needed – and free – social service. One hundred students will benefit from this next stage, where they will work in groups under the supervision of qualified lawyers.”
The project works on three levels: awareness campaigns; law clinics for legal advice; and representation in court, which has occurred in 32 cases so far. It also includes a mobile clinic which takes project activities directly to disadvantaged areas.
Dr. Hercules added that the project is an excellent example of how Gaza is modernising student learning by enabling practical hands-on community experience, rather than the isolated rote-learned theory of traditional legal education.
