When I first arrived at UCL in 2008 I couldn’t imagine the directions my academic life would take. I was planning to complete my LLM in Public Law and Human Rights and return to my home country, Brazil, where I worked as Legal Advisor in the Senate. However, I found myself absolutely involved with the course and many extra-curricular activities such as research assistantship, the student human rights programme and a wide range of seminars, which made me consider applying to the PhD programme. What at first was as a far-away aspiration became my full-time PhD programme and the project for the next 3 years of my life.
I joined the UCL SHRP in 2008, just after stating my LLM in Public Law and Human Rights. I first started as a member of the Research Team, and I was involved in two main works: the UK Legislation Report for the Convention on Modern Liberty and the International Action Team (IAT). The research work with the IAT and the internship at The Law Society of England and Wales (an option available for IAT researchers) gave me the opportunity to be invited to act as Research Supervisor for the International Team of The Law Society. I have supervised different groups of researchers (students) participating on the global research on the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary.
In November 2009 I was elected Vice-President and in March 2010 elected President of the UCL SHRP. In 2012, if everything goes as planned, I should be heading back to Brazil and continue my academic activities. But until than, we have a lot to do in UCL…
