Graduate study, Reed Smith and human rights

Public international law has captured my interest to such an extent that I have decided to continue in its study at a graduate level. I spent a substantial part of the semester writing my applications and asking for references from my former professors. Now the only thing left is to wait for the results which I should receive in January. Although I look forward to Christmas, during the holidays, I will be writing an essay for Private International Law which touches upon the topic of Brexit and the dissertation with the due date for the first draft at the end of February.

This week I participated in an internship with a few other students from Queen Mary in the international firm Reed Smith which has offices in the centre of London. The placement was organised in collaboration with a British human right organisation Liberty. Because human rights constitute one of the areas that I would like to devote my career to, I appreciate being among the chosen students. Liberty receives thousands of queries every year from people who want to know what rights they can claim and if they were breached in a given situation. Frequent are especially queries about powers of police officers against demonstrators. One of Liberty's resolutions is to answer every query.

Every student has to answer one such query. In the firm, every one of us met with a lawyer from Reed Smith, who gave us advice on how to approach writing the answer and on which legal questions to focus. My query has to do with the Sexual Offenders Register and its compatibility with human rights, in particular, a statute which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into British law. It is thus clear how I will spend the weekend because I have to hand in my answer to the lawyer in a week. The deadline for the first chapter of my dissertation has also approached, so the November season of deadlines again lived up to its reputation.

Today though, the sound of rain and saxophone from the street fills my room, and all the deadlines seem less threatening. As usually when it rains, I drink tea with milk and while eating, I make time for reading literature which has nothing to do with law. This time, I am reading the Wasp Factory by Iain Banks which, despite its bleakness and morbidity, I can only recommend.