Letter to Readers

Photo: www.theatlantic.com

Dear Readers,
I am writing this open letter to announce to our readers that my year long tenure has finally come to an end.
It has been a privilege to coordinate content for this blog until now. Our blog magazine today has readership, recognition and authenticity. Read by policy makers to Judicial minds, we are happy to retain this class magazine status.

The story of this blog starts with a question by former World Bank Chief Counsel and National Judicial Academy Director Dr. Mohan Gopal. After his class at our college, Dr. Gopal asked 'why don't you people start a blog?'. There begins the journey. Initially named as Indian Legal Watch, it was changed to 'Government Law College Thiruvananthapuram Students Blog on Kerala Legal Affairs' on the directions of Dr. Mohan Gopal himself.

On my resignation from the post after the end of one year, I remember the following persons whose help at different times make us stand as of today. Thanks on behalf of our team

To our Editorial Board Chairman Dr. P.G Balachandran Pillai. He is the one on whose supervision this was set up. I remember words- 'Nebil, if our intention is good, then god will definitely get things in favor of us'. He is the real example of how a Board Chairman should be. He never interfered in the Editorial freedom and we all love him because of that.

Special thanks to Adv. Nisa Fasil for motivating us and pushing us ahead. Thanks a lot for providing us with facilities including your laptop, internet connection and office for this blog.

This blog can never forget the contributions of Dr. Justice V.R Krishna Iyer. Our lead matter was an article by him. His Lordship provided us with dozens of articles, statements and interviews. We are indebted towards you. His Private Secretary Mr. Ramanathan took a lot of pain to dictate, take down notes and get it typed for us. We can never forget you also.

First interview was with former Director General of Police Shri. MGA Ramen. This great man gave us two slots for the interview. One time at Cochin and next at Thiruvananthapuram. I even today have his hand corrected copy of the draft of the interview. Great gentleman.

Prof. Manoj Krishna from our college wrote for us and also did what ever possible to promote this blog. He always helped in the time of crisis, gave us guidelines and asked other students to write for us. He gave us excellent contacts like Adv. Jayesh Pillai, who also helped us in many ways.

Our distinguished reader and the senior Journalist who broke the 2G scam, J Gopikrishnan offered to write a piece on Criminal Lawyers. We were on cloud 9 hearing that. We got a blog post which was most widely read and criticized.

Ashraf Padanna (Foreign Correspondent of Gulf Today and Oman Observer), the first media person to recognize our existence. His news stories in the backdrop of our interviews gave us recognition and appreciation from the readers and interviewees.

John Mary Joseph (Resident Editor of Deccan Chronicle) for recognizing that we exist in this world.

Syam Devaraj (Correspondent, Kairali TV), for scrolling the news that we published. His works gave us authenticity.

Vivina (Correspondent, PRD) for taking pain to verify news relating to the government. Thanks for helping us even at the peak of your work schedule.

VR Rajiven IPS, for his help at multiple times. His interview was a great encouragement to many civil service aspirants. Your support from the prior launch days is deeply remembered.

Jacob Punnoose IPS, for his help and support, not sure that he actually remembers us. His accommodating attitude always helped us to do stories.

Sudheer Mukkam, Journalist at Madhyamam for equipping us with an interview of former National Judicial Academy Chief Dr. G Mohan Gopal. His interview gave us hope during those difficult times before the launch.

Shasthamangalam S Ajith Kumar for that interview which was carried by Gulf Today, Oman Observer, Deccan Chronicle and Kairali TV. First interview in a court corridor.

Dr. Mathew Kuzhalnadan, National Secretary of Indian Youth Congress, for his encouragement and cooperation. I remember well about your query about the blog during your college visit and desire to see the team behind this initiative. His visit had a positive impact on us.

Adv. Kiran Lal, for coming down to meet us and encouraging us. One of the most positive person I have ever meet. A 'Dil Mange More' attitude. His article on SSB was also widely read.

Prasanth Nair IAS for his email interview. Encouraged students from law background and also outside. Promptness in giving the interview is appreciated.

Adv. Moharaj Gopalakrishnan. Spl Prosecutor in Enrica Lexi case, for granting us time for an interview even at night amidst busy schedule and thanks for giving us an opportunity to talk to the Investigation officer in Enrica Lexi case. Thanks a lot Reju Prasad for fixing that interview with Mohan Raj sir.

Garima Tiwari. One of our most respected readers and critique. We had the privilage to interview this young legal wizard. Her knowledge of International Criminal Law always amazed us.

Adv. Simla Prabhakaran for giving us your frank and independent opinion on various issues. Her knowledge of law at this young age always amazed us. Also thanks for taking part in our discussion.

Adv. Jayesh Pillai, Mumbai High Court, for always guiding and motivating us. His expertise in law was at our doorstep a couple of times. Thanks for writing for us and offer to do the new one.

Jino M Kurian, Student at NALSAR for his writings that is always different. He was dare enough to stand against the view propagated by the main stream media and support P.J Kurian. His other writing was also excellent. He gave all the power to the Editor to rewrite his article, of course without changing the basic structure. Luckily we never had to do anything of such a proportion. We love you a lot.

Abdullah Karuthedakam is a great friend and regular reader of our blog. The email lists provided by him was a great help. We were able to win over a large number of audience with your help.

Vimal Koshy is our Special Correspondent and Technical Expert. His Sony Voice Recorders was used in majority of the interviews done by us. His assistance in many interviews and stories was a real help. Happy to edit his independent stories also.

Special thanks to Viswajith Anand and Navaneeth Krishnan for sending questions for the interview even at very short notice.

Thanks to our Cochin Special Correspondent Joseph MD. His readiness to do a work at any time is note worthy. I never remember as heard a 'No' from him.

This blog would have been nothing without our Photo Editor Navya Frederick Pereira. She chose to stay with us in our good and bad days. This blog is what it is today because of your sincere efforts. From statistics reporting to news reporting to Photography, you spend a lot of time and effort.

Remember many who climbed on to this boat in the initial days, but left us alone at rough seas. Our works made us understand that if we are ready to work, then even a free blogging site can function like a law magazine.

Readers are our assets. Thanks for staying with us even when in this digital graphics age we still followed EPW model. Can never forget readers like Ramesh Rateria who criticizes citing para number, that really shows the attention with which he reads. Readers like Anisha Adithya, Adv. Rajesh Ramamoorthy, Adv. Boris Paul, Anil Puliyila, Sarah Georgey needs a special mention. Many other distinguished readers do not wish to be named owing to Professional and other reasons, so no naming individually. Bar, Bench and Academia supported us to the maximum. Thanks a lot. Readers, support and criticize to help us grow.

Best wishes to my dear friend and new Editor- Lesley Rajan. Keep going. Confident that you would convert this blog into a website in the future. One request- Don't put all rubbish posts and claim public interest. One advice- Do not go behind the volume of Audience traffic and ratings.


Enjoy your read.


Warm regards,
Nebil Nizar,
Content Coordinator (2012-13)

'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)