The ABSU Law Clinic Pre field visit workshop held on 11 and 12 May 2011 to herald the 2011 Prisons Services Clinic session and other outreach programmes. The Workshop held at the Faculty of Law Complex, Abia State University, Uturu with the students actively participating in the organization and the workshop sessions.
The Objectives Pre Field (Prisons) Visit Workshop was:
• To sensitize the students, stakeholders, Faculty and Community on the ABSU Prisons Service Clinic, Street Law and Outreach programmes generally;
• To bring together and elicit the cooperation of all stakeholders for the Prisons Service/Street Law programmes;
• To identity the rules of prison visits, interviews and reporting (for Pre-trial Detainees, Prisons’ Street Law and Prisons Reform and Advocacy Units)
• To train students to understand the nature of Prisons service work, applicable rules and legal instruments;
• To prepare the students adequately to conduct prison visits and interviews at Okigwe, Umuahia and Aba Prisons for purposes of legal aid and or advocacy;
• To identify and list the legal needs of all categories of prisoners;
• To identify the available legal aid facilities presently available to the prisoners;
• To train students to successfully conduct live interviews and be in a position to counsel and render services to the prisoners;
• To train students to prepare lesson plans and to teach citizens’ rights, including Prisoners’ rights.
The Workshop Outcomes were to enable the students:
• Discuss the scope of the Criminal Justice System in Nigeria as it relates to Prisons;
• Explain the scope of applicable Human Rights Instruments in Nigerian Prisons and the work of the Legal Aid Providers in Prisons;
• Explain the rules and ethics of prison visits;
• Identify some guidelines (including the Rules of Professional Conduct and Ethics) for Client Interviewing and Counseling as it relates to pre trial detainees;
• Conduct an effective interview and counseling for a pre trial detainee;
• Conduct an effective group interview in the prisons;
• Prepare lesson plan, and conduct an effective teaching on Prisoners’ and other rights;
• Analyze and find solutions to problems arising from information received from the Pre Trial Interviews.
• To render legal assistance, or refer deserving prisoners for legal aid/assistance
The Workshop had in attendance, The Ag. Dean Faculty of Law M O Unegbu, a Former Dean of the Faculty, Barr P. C. Ugochukwu, Clinic Coordinator Dr Sam Erugo, Clinic Supervisors, Dr E C Ngwakwe, Barr Emeka Ezeogu, Mrs Chizoba Okpara, clinicians and the faculty.
The Prison controllers delivered talks to the students on the Prisons generally and specially on Prisons, prisons’ visit rules and practices, while the NULAI President encouraged the work. One notable outcome of the Workshop was the inclusion of Aba Prisons for the services at the request of the Abia State Controller of Prisons as he commended the project and sought the clinic’s assistance by extending its services to Aba Prisons. The Workshop presentations were interactive.
After the formal closure and departure of the guest speakers, the workshop went into student-sessions and continuing the following day, as the students in their groups, had discussions and seminars to prepare for the visits to the prisons and Community outreach programmes.
Topics presented at the workshop included
• An overview of prison service as a CLE method; aims and objectives-Dr Sam Erugo/DrEze Ngwakwe
• The Police, the Prisons and the Courts under the Nigerian Criminal Justice system: Nwankwo C. K.
• Role of Prisons in the administration of justice; the rules and ethics of Prison visits by Barr Njoku
• The Role of the Courts in the Administration of Justice-Mrs C Okoroji Chief Magistrate Imo State Judiciary
The Coordinator, Dr Erugo used the occasion of the workshop to announce the division of the Clinic prisons work into four units to make for efficiency and specialization, to wit:
i. Pre-Trial Detainees Unit
ii. Prisons’ Street Law Unit
iii. Prisons’ Reform and Advocacy Unit
iv. Vulnerable Prisoners’ Unit
Accordingly the Students for this year’s prison service were divided into the said units. The facilitators for the groups are:
i. Prisons’ Street Law Unit-Facilitators-Mr. C.K. Nwankwo/Dr. Erugo
ii. Pre-Trial Detainees Unit-Facilitators-Mr. Emeka Ezeogu/Dr Innocent Okoronye
iii. Prisons’ Reform and Advocacy Unit-Facilitator-Mr. Emeka Okoroafor/Dr. Eze Ngwakwe
iv. Vulnerable Prisoners’ Unit-Facilitators-Mrs. Chizoba Okpara/Dr. Sam Erugo
There were also student-groups Role Play on Interviewing Pre-Trial Detainees, group interviews, teaching practices etc.
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