This interview has been taken by Priti Kumari, who is a campus leader at Lawctopus.
About Ujjaini
Ujjaini Chatterji completed her BA.LLB course from Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA in 2017. In 2018, Ujjaini graduated with an LLM in Human Rights from the University of Nottingham. For her Masters degree, Ujjaini was awarded the Developing Solutions Masters Scholarship, 2017 and GREAT The University of Nottingham Scholarships India 2017.
During her Masters, Ujjaini was also awarded by the Postgraduate Fund for Law Courses in Memory of Beverly Roberts, School of Law, University of Nottingham, 2018, to attend a summer school program at Venice School of Human Rights, European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization (Human Rights Defender Cluster), in Italy.
As an international intern, Ujjaini worked on issues of business and human rights law in Syria with the Syrian Legal Development Program (London) in 2018. In 2019, Ujjaini went to Bangladesh where worked on the issues of Constitutional law, Labour law, Rohingya refugee rights, Right to Information and public interest litigation at Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and Research Initiatives Bangladesh. Ujjaini has worked on issues of human rights law in four countries under three scholarships.
From 2020, Ujjaini engaged in extensive human rights litigation as a Junior to Sr Advocate Ms Indira Jaising and a member of the Lawyers Collective. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ujjaini was involved in the protection work and litigation for the displaced communities in Delhi, particularly the migrant workers and Rohingya refugees living in Delhi NCR.
She writes extensively on the subject of migrant workers, business and human rights, fair wages, housing rights and the Rohingya refugee crisis. Ujjaini has particularly done extensive ground reports on unlawful demolition of workers’ houses and other issues. In the Courts across India, she represents women and children from migrant and the Rohingya refugee community on issues of sexual and gender based violence, unlawful detention, etc..
Ujjaini is a very passionate advocate for the right to freedom of speech and expression and has defended several human rights defenders before the Court of law. She founded The Lingering Shadows Initiative (Parchaayi/Saba/Chhaya project), through which her Team of Advocates and paralegals regularly visit the communities of migrant workers and refugees, record their stories and narrative for publication in various forms and mediums.
Please introduce yourself to the readers. What inspired you to choose law as a career?
I have wanted to be a lawyer since I was in class five. My interest in human rights law was particularly aroused when I watched the movie – Veer-Zaara and I was extremely fascinated by the role of human rights advocate- Saamiya Siddiqui in the movie.
This role was apparently inspired by the real life human rights lawyer from Pakistan- Asma Jahangir. On reading more about Asma Jahangir, I was single mindedly determined to be a human rights lawyer when I grew up.
Tell us something about your college life. How’s life there? The academics, co-curricular, fests, competitions, etc.?
I feel my actual education in law happened after the completion of my degree in Symbiosis. Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA is certainly a good law school. However, their entire focus in legal education was centered around corporate law and I struggled to cope with such a system.
At that point, though I had very strong opinions about human rights, I feel that I lacked the knowledge of the law and the use of legal instruments to pursue human rights jurisprudence as a practice.
In fact it was only during my Masters in Nottingham when I began reading elaborately and even writing about the Constitution of India, the ideology and politics of the practice of Constitutional law and international human rights law. My Masters gave direction to my ambitions of becoming a litigating human rights lawyer.
You have done your LLM from University of Nottingham. How was you experience? What difference do you feel doing LLM from abroad and from India?
My LLM program at Nottingham was a life altering experience for me. Since my scholarships covered only my tuition fees, I used to work in odd jobs to pay my rent and collect my living expenses. My first job was at Domino’s Pizza in Raleigh Park, Nottingham. I worked as a bartender, waitress, actor, janitor, cleaner, sales woman, comedy mascot, marker of English language exams and in various other random jobs.
I was also a librarian at the University of Nottingham. I had two IDs of the University of Nottingham- one student ID and a staff ID. Sometimes I worked at a stretch for 20 hours in one day. I used to usually have full night shifts and during the breaks of the shifts, I used to finish my readings for my lectures the next day. I attended all my lectures, fully prepared and the conversations with my class and the Professors during these lectures were addictive.
My particular favourite professors were Dino Kritsoitis, Olympia Bekou, Daria Davitti, Nigel White and their lectures were so full of debates, different perspectives and intense conversations on the philosophy and very purpose and meaning of human rights and humanitarian laws. My concepts and clarity of thought on the theories of human rights law were shaped by these lectures.
I had been chosen to participate at the Philip C.Jessup International Moot Court Competition which was also a module for my degree. We participated in the competition in London and the subject of the moot- UN laws and use of force interested me so much that it became the topic for my Masters Dissertation. Those days, I used to barely sleep for 3-4 hours a day and yet I was so excited and grateful for the opportunity to be where I was, I was always very passionate about every single thing I did.
At this time, I also did my internships, participated in various university activities and I was a very active member of the debate society of the University of Nottingham. I represented the University of Nottingham at the in the Oxford Union Debate and the King’s College Debate, where we achieved very high scores and I had a ranking amongst the world’s top debaters.
I also attended various conferences and discussions on issues of law and human rights. In fact, through these conferences, I met my Senior – Barrister Sara Hossain under whom I worked in Bangladesh. I made friends from all intersections of society, from different cultures and backgrounds.
While I met high profile lawyers, highly educated scholars and very prestigious people, I also had so many friends at my odd jobs’ workplaces. During my travels, I met bohemians, homeless travelers, strippers, sex workers, artists, writers and so many people who were friends with me for a day or perhaps only a few hours and we never met again. But those memories remain with me forever.
Such varied interactions, impacted me as a person and broadened my thought processes which helped to understand human beings better which I feel is the very foundation of any practice or work in human rights law.
I feel my experiences abroad helped me not just grow as a professional or an academic but also they shaped me as a sensitive adult human being.
It’s a popular notion that if you could not make it to a NLU you can not excel in your career. There is general conception that only top NLU student can make it, how do you see this what you think on it , have you ever felt disadvantageous because of not being in a top law school.
I am not sure what this question means at all. What does “making it” mean? “Making it” means different things to different people. If you are asking me about becoming a successful legal professional, then I don’t think any university/law school in the world can make anyone a good lawyer.
Our work as professionals are reflective of our interest in what we do, our honesty, values and life experiences. I strongly feel that NLUs in India are not inclusive enough of castes and communities to even claim to shape the best law professionals in our country.
It has a lot of shortcomings like being too expensive for most Indian students which make the universities very elitist and short sighted. Hence, attaching too much importance to a university for success in a profession as diverse as law is, in my opinion, unfair.
Law is a profession that can be pursued by every single person because law is a part of our lives and our being. We are all stakeholders in this profession. Hence, we have to open up the profession for all intersections of the society.
Education in general must be accessible to all. I am very averse to such mindless competition and hierarchy. In my opinion, being a good lawyer is dependent on the amount of work one does on themselves, on the depth of understanding one has about their own identity, society and reality.
I am a lawyer because this is my passion and love for litigation is a dream that I have nurtured since childhood. I am too proud of every single life decision that has led me to where I am today to have any regrets in life.
Therefore, to be able to “make it”, it is important that we work on ourselves with a lot of diverse reading, writing, opening up to the conversations of politics, society and identity, forming opinions, knowing the laws and the jurisprudence around them and being incredibly confident and proud of our backgrounds, struggles and life in general.
Universities, professors can nourish our interests but they cannot build them. I think if we are passionate, determined, defiantly hardworking and absolutely in love with what we do, nothing can stop us from “making it”.
You work tremendously in the field of Human Rights what are the scope in it? Also tell is about the experience of working in the chamber of Indira Jaisingh.
I feel human rights law has diverse scopes. One can work as a litigator, academic, researcher, policy analyst, journalist , social worker, for human rights law. There are scopes of working in all countries as ground workers like I worked in Bangladesh, Nottingham and London and I now work in India. J
obs outside India usually entail research, writing and policy related work. For litigation, however, different countries have different requirements and once enrolled as an Advocate, one can also litigate in human rights law of a particular country. All countries have various NGOs, UN offices and other international organisations such as Amnesty international, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, etc. that work with human rights law professionals on issues of human rights law.
One can choose to work on issues of humanitarian laws, refugee and asylum laws, migration and laws of conflict which entail extensive fieldwork, communication and travel throughout the world. A masters degree in law is very useful in finding such jobs and the knowledge of more than one of the UN languages (especially French and Arabic) are very helpful assets in working as a human rights law professional.
One can also become an online volunteer for the United Nations organisation to gain work experience, research and writing on these subjects not only help in developing our own understanding of the subjects but also they support our profiles as human rights professionals and consolidate our work experience.
I feel that I became the professional that I am today because of my work and learnings under Ms Jaising. Working as her Junior taught me the intricacies of the practice of law. She always encourages my perspectives, because of which I gained a lot of confidence to pursue litigation and face the Court and argue my matters independently.
Her powerful court presence comes from constant reading and thinking, which is a quality I always try to imbibe in me. I am particularly very inspired by her inventive approaches in each case that she handles and the way she works with absolute dedication and commitment. As a professional I always try becoming as invested as Ms Jaising is with work.
What motivates you to go on and do what you are doing?
Well, I feel very proud and motivated to just imagine that I finally became a lawyer practicing human rights law. I swear, I wake up in the morning and the first thing I remember is that I have two degrees in law and I am actually a qualified, enrolled advocate, appearing, arguing and practicing in the Courts across India.
I think that my practice in law is my identity and a reflection of who I am. Litigation gives me a feeling of making a powerful impact in seeking accountability from the powerful, as I use my legal knowledge to build jurisprudence and expand the laws for the benefit of human rights of the marginalised and the powerless. This is my motivation.
Any advice or suggestions you want to give to young law students.
My advice to young law students is that they must fall in love with whatever they do because our professions live with us forever and play a very important role in determining our happiness. As young law students, one must read about everything, every subject, particularly history, politics, sociology, philosophy, science, and the Constitution.
They must write a lot, think a lot and question everything with rationality and application of mind. Irrespective of one’s age, background, identity and struggles, they must fearlessly express their minds and always stand up for what they believe in. Never compromise in life no matter how powerful your opponent may be.
Young law students must strive to determine their own identities, and spend time in making good friends, falling in love and finding honest human relations from all backgrounds and social intersections because this is the thrust of breaking social barriers and opening our minds to the different life experiences and realities that exist around us.
The world is all about stories and we must understand different perspectives and experiences to be able to fully live our lives and write our own stories. A good lawyer is always a good storyteller.
This Interview is a part of our Star Student/Faculty interview series wherein our campus leaders interview the star student/faculty of their college. Stay tuned for more!
Source: Lawctopus
