Ilvana Dedja, Criminal Justice LLM (2021)
"Often in gatherings with new people, I get asked what I am studying. My answer is Criminal Justice LLM, quickly followed “with a focus on human rights”. I have shared many modules with friends from the Human Rights LLM, and I feel that made me have the best of both worlds."
Year of graduation: 2021
Name of programme: Criminal Justice Law
Country: Albania
What influenced your decision to choose a LLM at Queen Mary?
The decision to study at Queen Mary was made based on a hunch I had – that this is it. After countless hours and days researching on where to study and what programme, I encountered the Criminal Justice LLM at QMUL. I opened the curriculum, saw the modules, got excited about topics such as terrorism, cybercrime, and corporate criminal liability, stalked my professors and envisioned myself with an LLM in Criminal Justice.
How did you find the teaching and learning?
I loved that despite being online, professors tried their best to be interactive and thoughtful to the students. Despite the barriers of zoom classes and online video calls, I got to have a sea of knowledge and a new perspective on many areas of the criminal justice.
What was key about your programme/ were there any highlights?
The highlights of the year were meeting my friends offline – imagine a storm of memories of many months of online classes, and two classes I had for the Cybercrime module with professors Ian and Julia. The classes were both inflicted with sadness and happiness – happiness for we got to have a face-to-face classes, and sadness for thinking what this LLM could have been. Despite everything, the resilience to the hardships faced this year have shaped me at this moment, with every good, bad, and hard moment.
Did you combine modules across specialisations and if so, what were the advantages of this?
Often in gatherings with new people, I get asked what I am studying. My answer is Criminal Justice LLM, quickly followed “with a focus on human rights”. I have shared many modules with friends from the Human Rights LLM, and I feel that made me have the best of both worlds. I think that the criminal justice system lacks a human rights perspective, and for this reason, more students who will become future barristers, solicitors, judges, or any career choice in the criminal justice system, should have a human rights perspective in every decision-making process. I personally think that through this, we can live in a more just world.
What piece of insight or advice would you offer for future students?
As I always say to my friends, take life with a pinch of salt. If there is something that this year during the pandemic taught us, is that we should not take anything for granted, and health and family are above everything. Even though academic life is important, health (physical and mental) and social life are as important. Try to have a bit of everything and plan your time – and you will get the recipe for an unforgettable year.
Has gaining a deeper understanding of your specialisation helped your career?
I always had the idea that I wanted to pursue a career in criminal justice, however not elaborating on the where and what field. Going deeper into the modules and understanding key problems in the criminal justice system, I now am more aware as to what direction is best for me to try in the future. Right now, I can easily image myself advocating for human rights of AI in a cyber world – something that had not even crossed my mind even for a moment previously.
What was your best experience of studying at Queen Mary?
I would say that the best take I have from Queen Mary is the knowledge I have from being part of an amazing group of bright scholars. The opportunity to have your thoughts provoked, agreed on or argued has motivated me to be a better listener and learner. I could see myself going through journals and papers, only for the best reason to have more knowledge, for my arguments with my colleagues. These moments have been the highlight of this year.
Would you be willing to share your Testimonial? If so, you could help a prospective student to make an informed choice to study at Queen Mary. (Class of 2020, 2021 and 2022 only).