La clinique juridique comme espace de participation et de médiation

In order to contribute to the debate on access to justice for people who are not legal experts, I argue in this article that by encouraging participation from below, legal clinics act as social and legal mediators. In the first part, I explain the concept of the legal clinic, clarifying its origins and its spread in the United States and Europe by identifying the essence of the “clinical mission” that Richard Wilson has defined as “lawyering with conscience.” In the second part, I present some research-action projects that I am developing at the University of Naples Federico II. These projects promote collaboration between users and institutions, especially in the field of statelessness and international protection. The aim of this article is to look at the modelling of participatory tools that foster user awareness and empowerment in various legal and social fields.