The Legal Clinics of the University of Havana: Challenges and Perspectives Since Their Inception

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The article critically examines the evolution and implementation of legal clinics in Cuba as a response to the limitations of traditional legal education, which has long been characterized by a dogmatic and theoretical approach. Using a qualitative methodology based on documentary analysis—including academic literature, legal regulations, curricula, and institutional reports—it systematizes the experiences of the University of Havana, structured around three axes: historical background, methodological approaches, and structural obstacles. It contextualizes the emergence of the clinical movement in the United States, Europe, and Latin America, emphasizing its pedagogical and social role in expanding access to justice. In Cuba, the pioneering experience at the University of Havana shows progress in free legal assistance, experiential learning, and community engagement, despite facing curricular, material, and normative limitations. The article proposes strategies for institutionalization, regulatory strengthening, inter-institutional articulation, and rigorous impact evaluation. It concludes that legal clinics are a transformative tool for a critical, ethical, and socially engaged legal education, with the central challenge being their structural consolidation and territorial expansion.