Congratulations to Law alumna Mashal Aamir, who has won the International Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Award.

Mashal, who graduated in 2017 with an LLB, received the prestigious award for her work on a wide range of sensitive issues including women and child prisoners in Pakistan, vulnerable witnesses, human rights, the victims of crimes, and harms caused by the use of drones.

The International Bar Association presents an award to one young lawyer selected from thousands around the world who has shown not only excellence in their career to date, but also a commitment to professional and ethical standards, as well as a dedication to serving the larger community.

Awards judges from the IBA's Young Lawyers' Committee said: "From Pakistan to Guantanamo, from South Korea to the UK, even before the United Nations, Mashal is leaving her positive mark everywhere. It seems she has done it all, but the great thing is she is just starting."

Mashal received the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award at a ceremony held in Mexico in September.

Following her graduation from the University of Glasgow, Mashal undertook her Masters from the University of Cambridge with a First Class, where she was associate editor of the Human Rights Law Review. She currently studies international and human rights law as a postgraduate at Oxford University.

Mashal’s commitment to global humanitarian causes played a key role in her selection for this award.

Her work in South Korea assisting North Korean defectors who have faced severe torture, and advocating for accountability against these crimes, led to her appearing before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva with defectors in order to highlight their continued suffering. With Korean NGO ‘PSCORE’ she has submitted findings to the International Labour Organisation and the UN Human Rights Office.

Previously Mashal has worked for Legal Aid USA, the British Government, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, an international law firm in Korea and news organisations around the world, and has assisted a Guantanamo Bay detainee. She also worked for the University of Dundee with International Law and Human Rights Professor Jacques Hartmann, on international law and the implications of drone technology.

Mashal spent two years researching prisons in Peshawar, Pakistan, focusing on the marginalised community such as transgender prisoners. Her findings highlighted the beneficial communal and rehabilitative approaches in Pakistani prisons, which provided invaluable insights into different legal and cultural systems.

Mashal recently established a charity in Utmanzai, Charsadda - a rural village in Pakistan - to empower women by teaching them how to stitch in order to gain financial independence. She was previously a UN delegate on the status of women and has been recognised by ‘30 Under 30 Most Inspiring Women’ by Young Women’s Movement Scotland, as well as receiving the Young Scot International Award and commendations by Stephen Fry Public Engagement Award.

Mashal said: “I have very happy memories of my time at the University of Glasgow. My advisor of studies was Professor John Finlay, who provided invaluable support even after graduation, as did Professor Rosa Greaves. My final year honours course with Professor Lindsay Farmer in criminal history and theory changed my whole career. His dedication and incredible work in the field is what inspired my graduate study at Cambridge and my subsequent work in criminal justice. He tirelessly provided numerous references and assistance on my applications, even through the many rejections I received.

“This support demonstrates the formative impact Professors can have in shaping a student’s career, and I am deeply grateful. The work of these Professors has continued to inspire and inform my own efforts.”

She added: “My parents are also very proud – they are University of Glasgow graduates too!”

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First published: 1 October 2024

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