AU in conversation with: Tatyana Eatwell
How did you become a barrister?
“I took a long route. I studied Anthropology, History & Politics at university and did a master’s degree in visual anthropology (ethnographic filmmaking). I then worked in the television industry for a few years making documentaries. After a while I realised that wasn’t really for me. I had always had an interest in human rights work and volunteered at Amnesty International in order to get some experience in the area. It was then that I decided to do a law conversion and to qualify as a barrister. After a couple of years of practice, I went back to academia and I studied a master’s in international law at SOAS and a PhD at Cambridge, before coming back to practice.”
What are your three pieces of advice for aspiring barristers?
1. “Whilst you are studying keep an open mind about the areas of law you might be interested in. You might end up studying an area that you thought you’d never like or thought you wouldn’t be good at. Just like every job you will have to put in a lot of hard work and get experience in order to make yourself a better lawyer. Human rights law can be practiced in many ways. It feeds into criminal law, immigration law, public law, family law etc. Find an area of domestic law that you want to pursue and love the most, and then, if you are interested in human rights law, you can see how you can practice human rights law either in that area or on the side.
2. Read a lot, but not just about the law. If you want to be a good lawyer you need to read. Read about the big cases of the past, human rights movements, the history of the country you’re working in. A broad understanding of the world and politics is always beneficial.
3. Practice advocacy and get as much experience as you can. You don’t need to do this in a court. You can do it by debating, speaking at events, presenting papers, working at a law centre or pro bono unit at your university etc.”
Why do you do what you do?
“I was very passionate about a number of causes as a child – a young idealist – I was a keen member of Greenpeace when I was 9 years old and was always touched when learning about the injustices of the past and conflict. For me, practicing law is my small contribution to the work of many directed at ensuring governments live up their promise, and responsibility, to protect all persons, without discrimination. Law isn’t the only answer: I work together with amazing campaigners, journalists and researchers. Human rights law is collective work: my work is one piece of the puzzle.”
Can you tell us a bit about your recent work?
“The main body of my work is general international law and international human rights law. A lot of my work involves representing persons or the family of persons who are detained abroad, making representations on their behalf to their governments of citizenship and at the UN level. I have also consulted for persons involved in commercial litigation where human rights issues are involved, advise on sanctions, and matters relating to international criminal law.
I do a lot of work on the protection of journalists in situations of conflict or protests, where they’ve been targeted by government security forces or by non-state entities and have been either killed or detained because of their work.”
What is the most challenging case you have worked on?
“I think each and every case is challenging in and of itself, and that is why law is so interesting. One of the many difficulties of international law is that, as a consent-based system, it has huge gaps within its framework, not necessarily within the law but within the process of adjudication, particularly when it comes to individual rights.
The biggest challenge is trying to find new ways of getting international human rights law to be effective in the protection of individual rights, and for States to comply with their obligations, in circumstances where there is no regional or international human rights court or tribunal to appeal to.”
What do you think are the current challenges for international law?
“An essential feature of the international legal system is that it is a consent-based system. States can consent to be bound by certain obligations, and they can also opt out of, or choose not to opt in to, adjudicatory frameworks. Currently, the main challenge for international law is that certain States abuse this fact in the interests of political expediency, to justify inaction, or the failure to adhere to their international obligations. This lack of compulsory oversight is the main challenge for international human rights law, and the victims of human right abuses.”
How do you change the world for the better?
“Acts of kindness can go a long way.”
Tatyana’s book recommendation: ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ by Milan Kundera