Ann Ireland, France

LLM Human Rights Law 2008-2009

I have always lived in a multi-cultural environment. My BA was a double degree in French and Spanish law. Half of the course was taught at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain, and the other half at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, France. In Paris, I studied with students from France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the UK and the USA.

After that, my aim was to become specialised in a specific area of law, human rights, and to do so in the UK. I was aware of the excellent worldwide reputation of the University of London's Colleges and had noted that Queen Mary is one of the top-rated for its variety of human rights subjects. Furthermore, my father graduated at Queen Mary in 1981, with a First in European Studies (French); he gave me the flavour of this University and strongly recommended me to apply.

What I most enjoyed at Queen Mary was the fact that the lecturers were close to the students, knew them personally and always tried to be available for them if they needed any help.

In my case, I was regularly informed of conferences and events on human rights which I could attend. I was also given guidelines for applying for internships with human rights organisations and NGOs, in and outside London, and had a lecturer offering to be my referee in my applications.

Something else I enjoyed about Queen Mary is that it allows students to course, if interested, one of their taught subjects at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). This can be an interesting way to sharpen one's expertise.

In addition, Queen Mary offers very useful and easy to use online facilities, allowing students to access law journals and decisions, amongst other materials.

Also, the University campus has been built up in a way that makes it a community, where all the first-need facilities are gathered, making student life much more pleasant and easy.

Now that I graduated (December 2008), my plans are to gain more practice in my field. I would like to do some fieldwork and work with a human rights organisation. After that, I am still not sure whether I want to continue on the path of NGOs and other organisations, or receive some training in order to be a human rights solicitor. I guess that experience and time will help me decide.