SFU Legal clinic was set up in April, 1998 on the basis of a public reception of Krasnoyarsk regional public committee on protection of human rights and has been a structural division of SFU LI since 2001 and since that time up to November, 2007 the clinic was managed by the Dr. of legal Sciences, professor, head of the SFU LI criminal law chair, Honoured lawyer of the Russian Federation – A.Gorelik.

The legal clinic activity is aimed at:

• Combination of theoretical and practical training of LI students;
  
• Education of lawyers with a high standard of legal consciousness and culture and possessing skills of practical work;
  
• Distribution innovative forms and methods of training of lawyers;
  
• Rendering free legal advice to people who owing to life circumstances cannot afford to get it for money; providing their access to justice;
  
• Legal education of the population.

Training of students in legal clinic begins after their completion of the second year optional educational program «Professional skills of the lawyer» (Moot clinic). This optional programme is an interdisciplinary theoretical-practical one and is aimed at forming general basic skills of legal activity, and at acquaintance with morally-ethical aspect activity of the lawyer in modern society as well.

Annually in September the individual selection of the 3-4 year students for the clinic is announced. Prior to work with clients of the clinic, students complete additional training on “The Basics of clinical activity” (Moot clinic), aimed at continuation of formations and development of legal activity skills. Based on the results of the training the decision on the student’s admission or refusal to work with Clinic cases is taken.

The basic directions of Legal clinic activity:

• Reception and consultation of citizens in public reception offices. Work in the Public reception office allows a student to acquire additional knowledge in civil, housing, family, labour etc., legislations to acquire skills of working with a client, to learn  to analyze problems of clients and to give advice to draw up legal documents, such as claims, complaints, etc.
• Protection and representation of rights and interests of citizens on civil and to criminal cases in the courts of the general jurisdiction and in arbitration courts, in state authorities and local government, establishments and other organisations. The given activity allows students to get to know work of the courts, the mentioned bodies and other organisations, to acquire complex skills of judicial representation.
• Legal advice to the condemned (advice on correspondence; work with condemned in reformatories; project “the Step towards” - the project of correctional camps for the condemned minors of Kansk and Abakan reformatories. The project objective is formation of positively-directed, effective social competence reducing risk of recidivism after their release among the condemned).
• Juvenile direction “Live law” - work at schools, and also conduction of psihological-legal intensive courses for certain target groups.
  Protection of citizens’ rights against wrongful acts of law enforcement bodies officers (“Struggle against tortures in militia”).