Tag Archives: Summer Abroad

Chayes Fellow Lindsay Henson ’14, on working with the Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Association, Bangladesh

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“My summer internship with Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) has been going well so far. I’ve gotten to work on a number of interesting projects including research on child marriage, two reports monitoring the implementation of Bangladesh’s new domestic violence law (passed in 2010) and human trafficking law (passed in 2012) that will be published, and updating and reorganizing BNWLA’s Legal Service Delivery Manual used by all lawyers in BNWLA’s 40+ legal service delivery centers located throughout the country. I also had an opportunity to visit BNWLA’s shelter home for victims of violence and attend a session at the Supreme Court. Going forward, my projects will include assisting with a two-day regional trafficking workshop with BNWLA’s partners in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal and conducting comparative research on child marriage legislation in order to make recommendations for new legislation on the topic for consideration by the High Court.

Outside of work, living in Dhaka has been an exciting adventure. My living situation is absolutely ideal. I live in a great little neighborhood that is near an outdoor market and a 15-minute cycle rickshaw ride to the office. When I first arrived, the language barrier was more of a challenge than I was anticipating as most people that I interact with on a daily basis don’t speak much English. Let’s just say my phrasebook has come in handy on more than one occasion.” 

Lindsay is one of 23 HLS students working this summer in 18 countries under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Please visit our Chayes Fellowship page to learn more!

Chayes Fellow Akhila Kolisetty ’15, on working with Timap for Justice, Sierra Leone

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“I spent this summer in Gondama, a rural town in southern Sierra Leone. Although the summer was not without its challenges,  it was a fascinating look into the challenges of women’s rights in Sierra Leone, as well as the interaction between customary law and formal law throughout much of the country. My work mostly involved engaging in mediations and investigations of family law, domestic violence, and contract disputes. We also conducted legal awareness sessions in nearby rural communities on the Domestic Violence Act, Devolution of Estates Act, and other key women’s rights and human rights laws. Finally, we worked to assist individuals obtain redress due to injustices in the local courts, which apply customary law, and abuses by the local police. I also had the opportunity to create a module to train paralegals to conduct court monitoring.

Ultimately, I enjoyed working at the grassroots level to gain a deep understanding into the types of conflicts and disputes that arise in Sierra Leone, as well as the way legal institutions could be improved to ensure better access to justice, particularly in family law cases.”

Akhila is one of 23 HLS students working abroad this summer in 18 countries under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Please visit our Chayes Fellowship page to learn more!

Chayes Fellow Dean Rosenberg ’15, on working with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, France

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“My internship at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, has been going great. The city is small but very beautiful (a kind of cross between French and German architecture, culture and food). There are a number of other interns here from different European countries so it’s also been a fantastic opportunity to meet with people from different backgrounds who share similar interests.

The work so far has been extremely interesting. I’ve been focusing primarily on two resolutions that the Parliamentary Assembly is planning on introducing and their accompanying explanatory reports: one on the independence of the European Court of Human Rights and the other on the accountability of international organizations for human rights violations. I’ve been doing research (including from academic journals, previous reports prepared by the Council, other international organizations and NGOs and from speaking to people with experience on the Court) and have been working on refining my writing to suit what is at its core a political document. My supervisor is extremely knowledgeable with more than 20 years of experience at the Council and has been great at providing for time for lunches with the interns to discuss our work, receive feedback as well as discuss our future plans etc.

The most interesting experience I’ve had here so far was probably the sitting of the Parliamentary Assembly last week. The week was quite chaotic, given the need for the assembly to sit, as well as for meetings of the various parliamentary committees (including the Committee of Legal Affairs and Human Rights which I’m working for) and of political groupings, as well as side meetings with NGOs etc. I got the chance to sit in on a number of committee meetings on a range of often controversial issues, including human rights in Morocco, the situation of Russian lawyers in the North Caucasus (a session that included testimony from a number of the lawyers themselves) and the treatment of whistleblowers.

Beyond work I’ve also had the chance to do some travelling in the area, including to Luxembourg, Paris, Geneva and this weekend to the South of France to see family.”

Dean is one of 23 HLS students working this summer in 18 countries under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Please visit our Chayes Fellowship page to learn more!

Chayes Fellow Marina Basseas ’14, on working with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, The Netherlands

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“My experience thus far at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia has been great! The Tribunal celebrated its 20th anniversary during the first week of my internship with a visit from King Willem-Alexander and a huge party – not a bad way to start off the internship. I’m also happy that I’ve been assigned to a high profile case, the Radovan Karadzic case. Most of my work involves cross-examination preparation for defense witnesses. I’ve also been helping out with a project that evaluates how courts in Bosnia-Herzegovina have been applying ICTY case law to sexual violence charges stemming from the war. It’s been truly fascinating learning about the nitty gritty details of the Yugoslav conflict. 

 Plus, I’ve loved the opportunity to work in such a diverse environment. My officemates are from all over the world, and I learn a lot from them too. They also make for good company on my weekend trips to Bruges, Brussels, Berlin and Prague.”

Marina is one of 23 HLS students working this summer in 18 countries under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Please visit our Chayes Fellowship page to learn more!

Chayes Fellow Daniel Bleiberg ’15, on working with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Washington, DC

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“I am in Washington working at the USTR General Counsel and China Affairs offices.  The work has provided an interesting and I hope fairly comprehensive view of trade law and its role in international affairs. The GC mostly handles WTO litigation and compliance with the decisions resulting therefrom. Both processes are bureaucratic, to be sure, and the work is often sufficiently technical that a particularized understanding of the offending countries is not strictly necessary. But the GC does a superb job, from what I can gather, and I’ve had the opportunity to help out on almost exclusively substantive legal work.

The China office focuses more on negotiations with Chinese counterparts over various trade issues. This summer has been a particularly exciting time to be at USTR working on trade negotiations, with a new Trade Representative starting in June, ongoing TPP and TTIP negotiations being held, and the Sunnylands Summit and the Strategic and Economic Dialogue taking place, sure to have major effects on Sino-American relations going forward. This side of my work has focused much more on the human component of international trade, and it has also allowed me to hone my Chinese translation skills to a considerable degree.

Washington itself is a nice little place to live. Mumbai or Paris it’s not, but it’s not bad for government work.”

Daniel is one of 23 HLS students working this summer in 18 countries under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Please visit our Chayes Fellowship page to learn more!