There are formidable barriers against access to justice in Helmand province. Deeply entrench conservative social norms prevent women and minority groups from asserting basic rights. Cultural, practical and administrative barriers conspire to suppress, limit or even deny access to basic justice. The formal justice system is general perceived as grossly biased and a politically driven excuse. The formal justice system has structural, bureaucratic and systemic deficiencies and has not been able to reliably protect basic human rights. The prevalent negative perception about the state legal institutions has eroded public trust. The lack of a culture of deliberate and organized legal empowerments, awareness and aid by the formal justice system also puts undue burden on individual legal institutions such as University Law Clinics whose mission is to provide legal aid and legal awareness alongside clinical legal education.

Law Clinics play a significant role in empowering the vulnerable and marginalized to access justice. Although law clinics are primarily focused on Clinical Legal Education, they also have a social justice and legal ethos responsibilities. As centers of clinical legal education and legal practice, law clinics are absolutely necessary components of law schools. Law Clinics are the best vehicles for the delivery of quick legal relief and the training of professional legal cadre. Universities are the ideal structures for the operation of law clinics. Due to the academically prosperous and socially conducive environment of Universities, law students can greatly benefit from the learning and practical engagement activities designed into the law faculty and law clinic courses. Law Clinics flourish in the brain and resource rich atmospheres of universities; the integration of clinical legal education into the law faculty further enhances law students’ legal skills and knowledge. The integration of legal theory and practice has many positive externalities including but not limited to the promotion of equal access to justice, protection of basic human rights, legal awareness and legal empowerment of women.

The phenomenal rise and success of private higher education institutions is setting a hopeful precedent for universities to provide legal services through integrated in-house law clinics. The number of annual graduates from private universities is several times more than the public; contrary to expectations, the enterprise approach to higher education has paid off. Private universities are very efficient and sustainable. Afghan higher education sector needed boost of competition in order to develop; private universities have brought that competition.

The integration of law clinics with universities is the ideal combination of theoretical and practical teaching of law. The most significant results of this combination are, the improved quality of legal learning, and the nimble delivery of legal aid to the poor. In the conflict/post-conflict context of Afghanistan, the operation of law clinics under universities is the most sensible and viable approach to the promotion and protection of basic human rights.

Despite formidable challenges, Bost University Law Clinic continues to grind on and remains true to its mission of pro bono legal education and legal aid services.