Alumni profile - Nazmul Hasan

19 February 2025

Introduction

I graduated from Queen Mary’s LLB Law in Practice programme in July 2021, completing a placement year in Bindmans LLP’s Actions against Police and State department during my third year. After I graduated, I completed a training contract at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, a civil liberties law firm, where I worked on public inquiries, inquests and private and public law claims involving domestic and overseas state violence.

I currently work at Liberty, a UK-based human rights and civil liberties organisation, where I’m the Legal Information Officer. My role is to work with community organisations to deliver advice and information about legal issues connecting to Liberty’s core areas of work and campaigns. Recently, the issues I’ve been working on have included the right to protest, including for student and migrant groups, the overpolicing of marginalised communities, the misuse of Prevent and the criminalisation of poverty.

What was your background before studying your LLB? 

I grew up and spent most of my life in a council estate in Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets. Before that, I migrated from Sylhet, Bangladesh, to the UK with my family.   

I was the first person in my immediate and extended family to get an education in this country, never mind go to university. Although I definitely felt the weight of that expectation and despite the various challenges growing up; I felt able to channel and draw from those experiences during my degree.  

Why did you choose to study at Queen Mary?

I chose to study at Queen Mary for a number of reasons, including the international reputation of its law school, the diversity of its students and the choice of modules which explored law in a way that appealed to my interest in viewing the law through the lens of marginalised and disenfranchised communities facing injustice. However, having been raised in and still living in Tower Hamlets, and initially being motivated to study law to tackle the legal issues and injustices I experienced and witnessed growing up in the borough, the idea of being able to work towards achieving that aim through access to such an acclaimed law school, only 20 minutes away from home, really appealed to me. It not only enabled me to stay close to home to provide caring responsibilities, it also allowed me to get a quality education, meet people from different walks of life, and access life changing opportunities which ultimately led me to the human rights career that I’m currently in.

Having been raised in and still living in Tower Hamlets, and initially being motivated to study law to tackle the legal issues and injustices I experienced and witnessed growing up in the borough, the idea of being able to work towards achieving that aim through access to such an acclaimed law school, only 20 minutes away from home, really appealed to me.

What were the highlights of studying your programme?

During certain modules such as Street Law, Criminal Sentencing, the Art of Law, Criminal Law and Jurisprudence, and volunteering at the Legal Advice Centre, I really enjoyed being able to research and analyse legal issues through the abovementioned lens of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities. For example, I explored issues like the treatment of gang affiliation and drill music in criminal sentencing and the linked institutional racism in policing, and the relationship between law and colonialism.

However, it was my placement year in the Actions Against Police and State department at Bindmans LLP which was offered through the Law in Practice programme, which was the most enjoyable and formative part of my degree. I got the opportunity to work on a range of cases concerning some horrific incidents of state-related violence, met incredible clients who will stick with me forever, and develop invaluable personal and legal skills that I would not otherwise have the opportunity or access to.

It also allowed me to get the relevant professional legal experience, and establish a supportive network which helped me to get a training contract at Bhatt Murphy coming straight out of university, and then onto Liberty, where I work now.

What are your plans for the future?

I would like to continue and develop my practice doing meaningful and impactful work for marginalised communities in the human rights and civil liberties space, and support the work towards building a fairer society built on solidarity, justice and human rights for all.

What advice would you offer for future students?

For those from marginalised communities, your experiences and insight brings so much value – use it to inform your studies, motivate you and keep you grounded not only academically, but throughout your career. It’s no easy feat to get into law school, and those feelings of whether you fit in can often feel very real and heavy, but you’ve overcome several barriers to get to that stage, and remember that we belong and have a lot to bring to the table, no matter how swanky the rooms we’re in are.

For any student, I can’t emphasise enough the importance of organising and supporting student and academic-led movements in and out of campus which resonate with you. Join a union and/or society, and use your knowledge and faculties to stand up for what’s right, learn about and raise awareness for different causes, and ultimately build solidarity between your peers and the wider community – this is particularly crucial in these divisive times. Your student experience does not exist in a bubble in isolation from what’s happening around wider society. Looking back, having now seen through my work the power and impact of student-led change throughout history until now, for example the Palestinian solidarity movement in more recent years, my biggest regret is that I wish I could have done more to support those movements while I was an active student.