Irakli Kotetishvili, from Georgia, graduated from Sussex in 2006 with a master’s in international criminal law. He then joined the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, coordinating a criminal justice reform working group that helped make major changes to Georgia’s criminal justice system. In 2009 he was appointed by the president of Georgia as the director of its Civil Service Bureau, an agency working on transparency and anti-corruption policies. He is now an international anti-corruption and public policy expert working with several international organisations. Here, he shares how his experiences at Sussex influenced his career.
I’ve always wanted to become a lawyer or a politician because of my interest in human rights and criminal law. The law is something that affects everyone, and my participation in the policy-making process is both a privilege and a great responsibility.
Studying international criminal law at the University of Sussex was my number one choice, simply because it was the best course out there. There are a number of distinguished academics in the law school whose work I admire, such as professor Richard Vogler, and it was inspiring to be taught by them. I owe my teachers a lot of my success.
The comparative criminal justice systems module, in particular, served as a major asset for me while I was working to help draft Georgia’s new criminal procedure code. It gave me a stronger understanding of other countries’ criminal law processes – I then used my knowledge to draft improvements to Georgia’s criminal law. The reforms my group proposed were approved by parliament, which brought about better human rights protection and introduced jury trials for the first time within the Georgian criminal justice system.
I spent four years as director of the Civil Service Bureau in Georgia, where I focused on strengthening Georgia’s anti-corruption policies. Then, after returning to university for a master’s in public policy, I spent time in Sierra Leone advising their president on anti-corruption reform strategies. Recently I’ve been working with the World Bank on the same issue. In the long term, I hope to eventually return to politics, using my private sector experience to change things for the better in my country.
Many things I learned at Sussex have stayed with me. The master’s course was intensive, so I had to quickly learn how work most effectively and juggle my different commitments. I’m still using those time management skills today. I also learned how to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds; I met people from all over the world and have built an international professional network. Living in a multicultural environment was new to me, but I made so many friends at Sussex – it was such a friendly environment and I enjoyed exploring new activities and interests. Being based in Brighton was an amazing experience too; I miss it a lot.
If you’re considering applying to Sussex, don’t think too long!. You’ll learn to question everything around you, see things differently and become more self-confident. It’s a beautiful place to live and study.
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