'Our jurisprudence is shaping up with each judgment, there is so much scope each day to carefully and critically compile, analyse and decipher the underlying ideologies and values.'

Garima Tiwari

Ms. Garima Tiwari is a Co-founder and  author at A Contrario project. She has been recently awarded the  2012 Justice Makers Fellowship with the International Bridges to Justice . She  holds an LL.M   in International Crime and Justice from University of Torino/United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (Turin, Italy)  and is a graduate from  National Law Institute University, Bhopal. She worked at the National Judicial Academy ,Bhopal as a Law Associate. She also worked as a Senior Researcher with Lexidale -Foreign Law and Regulation Analysis. Editor for Lex Warrier - Online Law Journal.

Given below is the transcript of her interview with Nebil Nizar.

1. How do you describe A CONTRARIO to other people?

Garima Tiwari: A CONTRARIO is a research group devoted to issues in international crime and justice. Since its inception, A CONTRARIO seeks to inspire discourse and literature on various subjects related to international crime and justice, in addition to fostering relationships with and engaging the virtual world.

The main aim of the group is to provide insights to the readers on international and transnational crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, crime of aggression, organized crime and terrorism, and to get them thinking about these issues in different ways. 

2. From where did you get the idea of A Contrario ICL?

Garima Tiwari: A CONTRARIO was born out of the notion that law and its evolutionary norms should be accessible to all people.  We are a team of people who are dedicated to wanting inspire a global discussion on these matters so that everyone can contribute to international law as it is dynamic and changing. In addition, publishing short works of scholarship allows people who may not have access to legal databases on these subjects to find additional sources, in addition, to seeing how one person frames an issue.

Nowadays open access in legal education is growing yet people are less aware about international issues as most journals have paid access, therefore, our team came up with this idea to make knowledge about international issues openly accessible, without any handicap of finances or resources.

3. Is Geography a hindrance?

Garima Tiwari: Our research group is not limited by geography. We are able to have discussions which cut across boundaries, thereby allowing for exchange of rich and multi-faceted discourse. The blog has never sided one opinion, and you will find diverse views on each topic. This definitely, provides for continuous enrichment of the subject. It is the joint effort of our wonderful team of authors from diverse backgrounds which includes Mr. Jan Guardian (Belarus), Ms.Regina Paulose (USA), Mr.Ronald Rogo (Kenya) and Ms. Lina Laurinaviciute (Lithuania)- that keeps the motivation running.

4. What are your activities at A Contrario ICL? I have heard about theme based writings, can you explain this to our readers?

Garima Tiwari: Our writings are topic based legal oeuvre which means that once a month a topic is chosen and the authors along with guest authors write on the topic. This allows for the authors to become diverse writers on various areas of international law, and also prevents repetitive blog posts.

A CONTRARIO has expanded within the last two months to a FACEBOOK page which allows people from all over the world, who may not have legal training, to participate and learn about international issues. In addition, next month we are launching the A CONTRARIO Debate Project which invites debate teams who are interested to choose a topic and debate on the issue, allowing for a worldwide audience to learn and get engaged in international topics. This project will be hosted on our YouTube site.

5. Do you think your articles would make a difference to the system?

Garima Tiwari: All writing makes a difference to the system. You never know who and when your message will impact someone. Our goal is to inspire and educate people of all backgrounds to do something - for their communities and for the world.

International Criminal Law to be specific has not been debated much in India. We do hear trafficking, terrorism and sometimes piracy, but we refrain from going into the genesis of these problems and the legal arrangements guiding them. Clarity on different international crimes, the situations world over and their impact on India deserves our attention. We need to learn from these concepts which are gaining international acceptance and apply them as acceptable to system. This would definitely need research and analysis.

6. Do you agree with me if I say, corporate owned portals charging exhorbitant rate slowed the transmission of legal knowledge, research and argument considerably?

Garima Tiwari: Yes, I do agree with this to some extent. When the portals add their charges to the materials, it gets difficult for students to access the same and thereby, leads to research and arguments based on what is freely available. But this should not limit the quality of our work. There are good libraries, in most cities which have most of the requisite books and journals. Most law colleges are well equipped, and law students can access these. They also have subscriptions to most legal research sites. We do not have to become the slaves of online publishing sources.

7. Is India a fertile land for research oriented study?

Garima Tiwari: I would say yes, India is a fertile land for research oriented study,  there is always so much happening. We are yet to realise that the way our jurisprudence is shaping up with each judgment, there is so much scope each day to carefully and critically compile, analyse and decipher the underlying ideologies and values. True that the legal research has not made much headway in India even in comparison with other social science researches and that legal researchers have always struggled to explain the nature of their activities to colleagues in other disciplines. I would say that the need for research comes from the very fact that it is avoided. Law is one subject where there is scope for multiple interpretations. It is hard work and it involves thinking. This is precisely why an initiative like A CONTRARIO comes handy. The more we get to share each others’ experience, the greater we develop our own erudition on that particular issue.

I think most of us can read the bare Act and find supporting precedent. That is one form of research all law students do. Then there are comparative law researches, empirical and inter-disciplinary researches. They form a more critical and journalistic tone of legal research. Currently, legal research in India is grossly suffering from plagiarism and stagnation. It is mostly superfluous. It is taken seriously, only when it pays. Well that’s practicality. Research in law has still not taken a shape of a career option. Most research is simply a view of another author –sometimes presented in one’s own words –and mostly, simply picked up. So it is more of mechanical jugglery of words than voicing of original thoughts. On top of it, since copyright is not taken seriously, there is lack of attribution as well. Ofcourse, this does not mean that there are simply no good researchers. There are many excellent authors with original thoughts –diverging or culminating into the legal literature in some way.

8. Whether attitude or aptitude is required for a researcher?

Garima Tiwari: Abigail Adams rightly said, ‘Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.’

Honesty, perseverance, curiosity, diligence, knowledge, attitude of never giving up and good communication skills are some of the attributes of a good researcher. A serious research can often be tedious, here patience comes handy. Before a researcher goes into critical in-depth analysis on a subject, he first needs to develop reading and observation skills. A simple incident around you should be able to agitate the mind, to search for its details. Legal research as a mechanical process devoid of analysis is not productive in the long run. The ‘cut-copy-paste’ attitude that is adopted simply stagnates the thought process. It is important for us to understand that legal research is not simply putting down a collection of sentences from different sources or mere data collection. It involves an exercise in reasoning being conscious to what is accepted and rejected in the field, and then at the subconscious level to cull out a new argument in logic. A good researcher would not be able to resist sharing his/her work and experiences.

Today, we have lots of tools for conducting legal research than our predecessors; even then we cannot rate our scholarship at par with their work. Computers and internet have put us under a close scrutiny to be regularly updated. The key to effective research is developing a research strategy, and following good research methodology. The more familiar you are with the resources available, the faster you can develop your strategy, and the more effective it will be.

9. What is your advice to those interested in legal research?

Garima Tiwari: “Research is to see what everybody else has seen and to think what nobody else has thought”. This quote by the famous Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Gyorgyi –sums the purpose of any research.

Anyone interested in legal research, needs to develop his reading skills and start writing –beginning from now. The goal should be to be a voracious reader. The more you read the more expressive you will become. Be curious. Just pick up a topic and write.

A good researcher is not just born overnight. Be ready with your diligence and patience.  For jobs in legal research, you need to show you can write on varied subjects with precision and ease. A dishonest careless research is dangerous. For a more critical type of research, be ready for criticism. Not everyone will be happy with what you come up. Accept criticism as you accept praise. Learn what you can from it, and keep reading, thinking, writing and re-thinking. You surely will have lots of space and autonomy to develop your ideas. There is immense opportunity to travel and be part of amazing discourses. Good research pays well, not just monetarily but the level of contentment achievement after a good research is unmatchable. Intuitively your faculties develop fathomlessly which you may not realize at present, yet some years down the line you tend to understand how priceless such exercises were. So if you love writing and ofcourse, love pushing your brain to limits – jump in!



(Garima Tiwari may be contacted at garima.nliu@gmail.com. Also, access 'A Contrario' at http://acontrarioicl.com)