Collaborative legal aid clinic: immigration law for foreign national women prisoners in UK prisons
Applications for the Academic Year 2026 - 2027 will be open from 5th October 2026.
The Bonavero Institute seeks to enrich the human rights experience of Oxford students, and to assist them to develop careers in the broad field of human rights. Its “Gateways to Human Rights Research and Practice” initiative aims to deepen student engagement with the institute’s research projects and to provide insights into human rights practice. This and several other programmes form part of this initiative, including non-credit Courses, Research Training Programmes, the Collaborative Legal Aid Clinic at HMP Huntercombe and our Student Fellowship Programme.
Programme summary
The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, the Centre for Criminology, and Oxford law firm Turpin & Miller organise a collaborative legal aid clinic each academic year to address the gap in support for foreign national women in UK prisons facing deportation without any legal representation. This gap is due to drastic cuts in legal aid, which mean that the costs of initial consultations with prisoners are not always covered by legal aid and are therefore undertaken at risk. This programme guarantees an initial consultation for women facing deportation and enables Turpin & Miller to secure legal aid, where possible, addressing an urgent human rights need.
Each year, six students are selected to participate in the clinic. Students will be required to spend one day per month working at the clinic which is based at the offices of Turpin & Miller. They are supervised by an experienced solicitor, and will receive hands-on experience with immigration law and human rights.
At each clinic, students assist in interviewing potential and existing clients via videolink or telephone and assist Turpin & Miller with case follow-up.
An introductory seminar provides an overview of basic principles of immigration and asylum law, and students participating in the clinic receive training on interview techniques and the ethics of legal advice work in a prisons. There are also regular opportunities for the student group to share their experiences and speak about challenges. Participants will be provided with a certificate to confirm their participation in the clinic.
Profile of participants
- Research skills: Graduate law and criminology students or graduate students of other disciplines with an undergraduate law degree; interest in immigration law and human rights.
- Availability: Participants are expected to commit approx. 12 hours per month over the course of the academic year. This includes:
a) initial training as well as termly review sessions;
b) assisting in the legal aid clinics (virtual) (half a day, once per month);
c) assisting Turpin & Miller with case follow-up (half a day, once per month);
d) a blog post or academic paper on an issue that arises from the clinic.
Successful applicants will also be required to attend an introductory session which will be led by Prof. Mary Bosworth, Dr Eliza Bechtold, and Tom Giles, this will be held in-person at the Bonavero Institute on 27th October 2026 from 4pm - 5pm.
Application process
Download the application guidelines.
Please send as a SINGLE pdf a letter setting out why you would like to participate in this programme, together with a CV, to: bonavero-programmes@law.ox.ac.uk.
Please state your Clinic preference in your application i.e: HMP Huntercombe or the Women's Prisons Clinic.
Closing date for Applications for the Academic Year 2026 - 2027: Noon UK time, 21st October 2026 (please note, applications submitted after noon UK time will not be considered unless in exceptional circumstances).
Applicants will be notified as to whether their application for the Academic Year 2026 - 2027 has been successful on 26th October 2026.