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Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Claire Harris - Human Rights Career

Claire Harris
Human Rights Careers

I probably don’t need to tell anyone why working in human rights is challenging, rewarding, compelling, life changing – it is, and it is also occasionally stressful, difficult, disillusioning.   Ultimately, though, it does really make a difference to people’s lives.    I recommend it, so the most useful thing I can probably do is tell you what might assist you to get there.

My experience

My main experience in the human rights field has been working at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) - my background might give some clues as to how to get there but I’ve also been fortunate to have jobs which have involved human rights in other  parts of my career so far.

I've had some great working experiences so far which, at the time, seemed to be good opportunities that came up and didn’t seem to involve a lot of planning ahead.  That was probably more good luck than anything else so it would be worthwhile having some sort of idea in your mind as to where you would like to be over the next ten years, and try to get some experience to equip yourself for it…

I completed a B.A / LL.B at Monash in 1995, including a semester’s study at Carleton University in Canada. 

Articles - Arthur Robinson and Hedderwicks:   The legal training there was comprehensive and a great start in practicing law.  My experience there also demonstrated that even in the corporate sector you can get involved in human rights work.  AR&H was representing the aboriginal plaintiffs in one of the stolen generation cases (Kruger v Commonwealth).  I was able to work on the aspect of the case where we sought to argue that there is an implied constitutional prohibition on laws which authorise commission of genocide. 

Federal Court Associateship – Justice Merkel:   I left AR&H shortly after articles to do an associateship with Justice Merkel, who had done a lot of human rights related work as a QC.  Working as an associate was a great experience for lots of reasons – exposure to varied areas of the law, good for research and analytical skills.  The Federal Court jurisdiction involves human rights related areas, particularly refugee / asylum law, but it was also a good grounding to be exposed to basic principles of public law in practice.

Master of Laws (International Law) at Cambridge University:  While at the Federal Court I applied to get into Masters’ courses in the UK and for scholarships to enable me to do it.   I got a Commonwealth Scholarship and a College based scholarship at Cambridge and completed an LL.M. focussing on international law and human rights – including international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and civil liberties law.  

UN ICTY:  Legal Officer to Judge David Hunt:   This position involved assisting the judges of the Chambers of the ICTY in their various roles – including international law research and drafting of judgments, analysis of evidence in the war crimes cases before the Tribunal, working through new problems of procedural and evidentiary law in the international context, defendant’s rights, etc.    I think I got this job because Judge Hunt was looking for someone who had:

  • Been admitted to practice, not straight out of uni
  • Worked with a judge before, done a lot of legal research and drafting
  • Done an international law Masters to complement his knowledge and experience of domestic criminal law
  • A knowledge of French, the other official language of the Tribunal (I never expected a major in French to be a useful career tool but there you go)

Lawyer, International Public Affairs Group, Tite & Lewis, London:     This private law firm was starting up a new section dealing with public international law and policy in the corporate context:  international environmental law, international trade, advice on international organisations.    The firm was looking for a lawyer who had been admitted to practice, had a post-grad degree in international law, and had worked in an international organisation.   I ultimately focussed on the growing body of international legal principles around corporate social responsibility, which is becoming an important area in corporate governance.  Multinational corporations are increasingly developing in-house policies and compliance programmes on human rights and environmental issues.    Another example of how human rights related work is found in the corporate sector…

Legal Officer, Office of the Prosecutor, ICTY: After London I returned to the Hague to work in the Office of the Prosecutor, assigned to the Milosevic prosecution team, as well as other cases.  This involved analysis of evidence, writing submissions on international law and procedural issues, interviewing witnesses in the field, proofing witnesses to give evidence, as well as considering the evidence against potential new defendants, drafting indictments, etc.   

Barrister:   I returned in 2003 to come to the Melbourne bar and am practicing as a barrister – mainly in general commercial law, some administrative law, but have also had some cases dealing with international law issues.    The flexibility of the bar has meant that I have also been able to take consulting work for the International Criminal Court, assisting them in drafting new procedural regulations for the Court and being involved in plenary sessions in the Hague to discuss and debate the development of these regulations.

Like a lot of barristers I have got involved in the pro bono representation schemes for refugee / asylum / detention cases, which seems to me to be one of the most important human rights issues in Australia today:  so there’s plenty of human rights work to be done here in Melbourne.

A few tips:

Postgrad study:

  • Check out the huge number of options in postgraduate international law studies – as well as the traditional choices like Cambridge, Oxford, NYU etc there are some great specialist human rights / international criminal and humanitarian law courses in other UK universities, in Canada, and in Australia – organisations will be interested in people who have studied in their particular area of work.   Monash is well regarded and known at least to people working in the UN tribunals.
  • Scholarships:  cast the net wide – there are some great scholarships like the Commonwealth scholarship for studying in Cth countries; also academic performance oriented scholarships like the Menzies, Fulbright; but also there are University specific scholarships, college specific scholarships at least in the UK universities; and also subject matter scholarships which will focus more on your research ideas and what plans you have for using your further study to benefit the community– for example the Lionel Murphy scholarship.   A creative, well thought through idea is what these sorts of scholarship committees are looking for.   Monash was helpful in providing information on the various scholarships when I was looking.
  • In preparing scholarship applications and university applications make the most of the help that law faculty lecturers will give you - most will be only too willing to check out draft applications and offer suggestions.

General thoughts on working in human rights or international law in an international organisation:

  • Think fairly carefully before going into an international job before you have become admitted to practice in Australia and perhaps spent a year or two practicing here.  Firstly, a lot of international organisations will be more interested in lawyers who have practicing qualifications as well as purely academic qualifications.  But as a practical matter, it may be difficult, after spending a few years in an international organisation, later to obtain articles or fund yourself through an admission course.   Although firms and other employers back here find work in an international organisation very interesting, it’s not regarded so well if it is your only qualification.   A lot of my colleagues at the ICTY had some difficulty, when they wanted to leave the Tribunal, in finding other jobs back home or in other places.
  • While it might seem odd that you would want to leave an interesting job like this, work in international organisations and human rights oriented jobs can be fairly stressful and intense; it is quite addictive in some ways but in others hard to sustain.  Many people realise they can’t do it forever.  So it pays to think ahead to be equipped to work in different environments.
  • Don’t overlook the opportunities to do important human rights work right here in Australia:  voluntary work and campaigning with organisations like Amnesty, ICRC etc; but also work that you can do as a lawyer, through pro bono channels at the bar or in law firms, such as asylum seeker representation, or corporate social responsibility type work as an adjunct to corporate law.

Career oriented points for people looking to work in an international organisation:

  • Competition for paid jobs in the United Nations is fairly heavy, and Australians are already well represented (nationality of applicants is taken into account as the UN tries to have member states proportionately represented to the extent possible).   Although to some extent it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time, you do need to equip yourself as much as possible with the basic qualifications. 
  • International law and post-grad qualifications:  Most United Nations organisations recruiting lawyers to work in international law and human rights law have come to expect a postgraduate degree in law, generally an LL.M.  They will also expect some specific studies in international law whether at undergraduate or post-graduate level.   So a minimum will be to take the basic international law course in your LL B and whatever additional specific international law / human rights law related subjects you are interested in.   For international criminal tribunals / courts, LL.M.s with a specialisation in IHL, human rights law and international criminal law are obviously very well regarded.
  • Second languages:    Another language will be an enormous benefit.  This could be one of the official UN languages such as French, given that this is one of the two official languages at the ad hoc tribunals, and a standard language at the International Criminal Court, or another less common language, which may be useful in relation to different regional projects or organisations.   If you haven’t got a second language, it would be a great start, when you are making applications, to be able to say that you are enrolled in a recognised language course, for example with the Alliance Française. 
  • Prior work experience – paid and voluntary:  while it is possible to get a position in an international organisation without postgrad qualifications, you would be very unlikely to do so unless you have some work experience, preferably in an area related to the sort of work you want to do.   Being a practicing criminal lawyer, or a judges’ associate, was the background experience of a lot of the lawyers at the ICTY.   Voluntary work, particularly if it has involved working in a different cultural environment or specifically on human rights related projects, will also be very useful. 
  • Internships:    a great way of increasing your international law skills in practice, and also being in the right place at the right time, is to do an internship in a UN or other international organisation.   It will be well respected, in that you will be getting highly relevant work experience, and you may be well positioned to take up work in that organisation if vacancies become available.   You hear a lot more about vacancies in various international law jobs once you are in that environment.    Keep in mind, though, that:
    • Internships are unpaid.  You may be able to apply for financial assistance or grants from various organisations but you will need to be prepared to finance yourself.
    • Some organisations within the UN have a rule that, after you have done an internship, you are ineligible to apply for a paid positions for a period of 6 months after the internship has finished.  Sometimes exemptions are granted but you certainly can’t count on it.
    • Some internships are better organised than others – check out the organisation’s information on what sort of work you are likely to do in the various internships