Developing a Kantian transnational clinical legal education programme

In an era of globalisation, law graduates must develop competencies beyond domestic law, including cultural awareness and comparative analysis. Transnational clinical legal education (TCLE), experiential education involving cross-border legal issues, offers an effective means of cultivating these skills. It immerses students in diverse legal systems, sharpening comparative analysis and deepening understanding of domestic frameworks, while also building practical skills such as cross-cultural interviewing and remote case management. 

In addition, through these pro bono services, which include aiding refugees, supporting activists and guiding businesses through regulations, TCLE can help advance global justice, influence reform and produce policy-relevant research.

• International collaboration is a legal education opportunity
• Campus talks: cross-cultural communication in the international classroom
• Global learning: an emerging transferable skill for students

Based on our experience in establishing the Global Legal Clinic at Southampton Law School, here are insights, benefits and challenges when enabling students to engage in supervised international legal work.

A Kant-inspired transnational legal clinic 

The first step in developing a TCLE programme is to articulate its mission and scope in order to determine the philosophical foundation best suited to meeting those aims. 

A thematic focus will allow instructors to find appropriate partner organisations, allocate resources and recruit faculty with relevant expertise. We identified aspects of Immanuel Kant’s work, specifically his anti-paternalism, cosmopolitanism, Formula of Humanity and Kingdom of Ends, as well as his duty of beneficence, as being highly relevant to our programme.   

Kant’s ideas remain instructive to the global clinical legal education (CLE) movement today. In fact, it is striking how much material speaks to its problems, themes and desiderata two centuries after the philosopher’s death. Kantian thought enhances CLE pedagogy in terms of reflective capacities, ethical interaction with clients, conceptual distinctions, the role of moral emotions and understanding global obligations. Moreover, Kant’s emphasis on experiential learning and moral education aimed at cultivating global citizens provides a strong foundation for transnational collaborations.

Central to Kant’s moral theory is respect for autonomy, which guides our approach to legal ethics training. We encourage students to respect client autonomy and avoid paternalistic attitudes, ensuring their work empowers, rather than overrides, client decision-making. Respectful treatment, even when being beneficent, is pivotal, and CLE students should be encouraged to think of the advantage as mutual, to acknowledge that they too benefit from engaging in real legal cases. On top of this, Kant’s cosmopolitan outlook, evident in both his pedagogy and moral theory, informs our vision of preparing students to become global citizens and future transnational practitioners. His principle of beneficence offers a compelling moral basis for pro bono work, reinforcing the obligation to assist those in need regardless of borders.

While Kant’s philosophy is grounded in reason, his work also advocates nurturing emotions such as compassion and sympathy through experiential education, qualities that help students build genuine connections with clients. The importance he gave to collaborative reasoning in the pursuit of truth, ethical and otherwise, translates well into transnational practice, where students engage in dialogue and negotiation, from adversarial exchanges to deliberative discussions, to reach solutions acceptable to all parties, an approach particularly relevant to cross-border contract negotiations. The Kingdom of Ends helps students view themselves as part of a moral community that includes clients, CLE programmes in other universities, and other stakeholders. 

Kant himself mandated that we think for ourselves. It would therefore be unKantian, and pedagogically irresponsible, to teach Kant uncritically. This is especially so with regard to the more problematic aspects of his theory. Kant’s racist views can alert students to implicit, and sometimes explicit, biases inherent in philosophical theory, theory that has been foundational for the mainstream of liberal political theorising, constitutions and laws. 

Challenges and ethical considerations

Despite its promise, TCLE, whether Kant-inspired or not, faces significant challenges. Apart from logistical barriers, ensuring pedagogical and ethical integrity constitutes an important challenge. Students may be working in legal systems with different rules of professional responsibility, raising questions about confidentiality, client consent and the unauthorised practice of law. Faculty must establish clear ethical guidelines and work closely with in-country partners to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations.

Power dynamics also warrant attention. TCLE must guard against “legal colonialism”, the risk that students from wealthier institutions may impose their perspectives on communities abroad. This requires humility, deep listening and genuine partnership. Sustainability is a further concern. Long-term relationships require ongoing funding, faculty commitment and institutional support. 

In our case, an additional challenge involved the resource-intensive task of designing and implementing a Kant-inspired CLE curriculum, which may require collaboration with faculty versed in Kantian theory or philosophy departments. The GLC was developed through collaboration between the authors of this article to overcome the challenge of incorporating Kant’s work into our version of TCLE. 

Preparing law graduates for transnational practice 

TCLE bridges theory and practice while equipping students for the demands of a globalised legal landscape. By fostering cross-cultural competencies and practical skills, these programmes prepare graduates for transnational practice, advance ethical engagement grounded in Kantian principles, promote global justice and enhance the international profile of law schools. 

Omar Madhloom is an associate professor in law and director of the Legal Clinic at the University of Southampton. Martin Sticker is an associate professor in ethics in the department of philosophy at the University of Bristol.

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