Postgraduate Fellow Spotlight: Raaya Gomez ’22 LLM

Raaya Gomez ’22 LLM discusses her time working as a Robina International Human Rights Fellow at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

How long have you been working as a Robina Fellow at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg?

I’ve been working at the Court since September 2023 – closing in on a year very soon.

What does your work at the European Court of Human Rights entail?

I have two roles at the European Court of Human Rights – I clerk for Judge Darian Pavli and provide research assistance to the Directorate of the Jurisconsult.

My work for Judge Pavli has entailed discussing and providing thoughts on draft judgements, engaging in legal and policy research on specific points of draft judgements ahead of weekly deliberations, and providing research assistance for the Judge’s external engagements (lectures, presentations, discussions), many of which have broadly focused on different aspects of the freedom of expression, including disinformation and freedom of expression in the digital environment.

The Directorate of the Jurisconsult is broadly responsible for ensuring consistency in ECHR jurisprudence. I’ve had the opportunity to assist in the development of thematic compilations of the Court’s jurisprudence (‘Key Themes’) and provide research assistance for comparative law reports which are used by judges, among other tasks. 

A separate project I’ve been working on with the Directorate of the Jurisconsult is an emerging themes project – I’ve been tasked with compiling a list of potential issues that may come up before the Court that focus on emerging themes and rights. As part of this work, I’ve primarily looked at the themes of artificial intelligence, climate change, neuroscience and neurotechnology, human rights and sports, and specific issues under warfare and the rule of law. The work has been very interesting, as it has also allowed me to look at issues beyond the European region and read widely on how national, regional and international human rights frameworks are responding to contemporary challenges.

 Describe a project you’ve worked on.

As part of my work for Judge Pavli, I carried out research for the preparation of a presentation at the 10th anniversary of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (‘Istanbul Convention’). The research entailed analysis of ECHR jurisprudence dealing with gender-based violence and looking at the cross-fertilization between the Court’s jurisprudence and the Istanbul Convention and the work of the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO). I found this project particularly interesting as it aligned with my professional and academic interest in international human rights and gender.

What do you hope to gain from this fellowship experience?

I’ve hoped to gain a more realistic view of how the Court works. Over the past 11 months I’ve had the opportunity to not only work in my two specific roles, but also attend several trainings and courses on different aspects of the ECHR and the Council of Europe and have several discussions with colleagues working in the different units at the Court. These experiences together have meant that I’ve been able to receive a holistic picture of how the Court works. One of the most interesting aspects has been understanding how detailed the case processing process is – from the moment an application is received in the mailroom at the Court, the application goes through so many different teams and layers of expertise and skill, after which a judgement is produced. Thereafter, the Committee of Ministers and the Execution of Judgements department is responsible for ensuring that States comply with the judgements. The fellowship has been an insightful experience in this respect.

What have been some of the challenges of this work? 

While the Court does important work, this means that it also deals with incredibly difficult and grave human rights violations. Some of the cases dealing with gender-based violence, torture and conditions of detention, in particular, have been very tough to read and absorb. I’ve tried to be kind to myself in these instances and take frequent breaks while reading these cases.

What experiences motivated you to pursue this opportunity?

My academic and professional interest is broadly in international human rights - this motivated my applying for the Robina Fellowship to work at the Court. During both my undergraduate years, and LLM at Yale, I had the opportunity to study some of the jurisprudence of the Court. The European Court has had far-reaching impacts for many regional and national legal systems beyond the European region too. The superior courts in Sri Lanka, my home country, have also used ECHR jurisprudence in some landmark judgements. I was keen to gain a more in-depth understanding of how the Court works, how the Court responds to new human rights issues, and how standards set by the Court impact domestic legal systems.

On a more personal level, I was keen to be based in Europe – I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many interesting professionals working in human rights in the region. I’ve also been able to travel in the region during my free time, which has been an incredibly wholesome experience.