“Law is ultimately about people, not rules”. How Barrister Gwawr Thomas became a PhD researcher at SOAS

PhD researcher Gwawr Thomas (LLM Human Rights, Conflict and Justice, 2025) transitioned from 15 years of courtroom advocacy to exploring new frontiers in human rights law at SOAS.

In this interview, she reflects on the pivotal moments in her career and shares her advice for future barristers and researchers.  

Gwawr’s career began firmly in legal practice: she worked as a barrister specialising in human rights and criminal defence, both domestically and internationally. Today, she is in the first year of her PhD at SOAS, where she investigates the interplay between African philosophies of dignity and the jurisprudence of African human rights mechanisms.

A SOAS lecture sparked Gwawr’s journey into human rights research

While well established in her career as a barrister at renowned London set 1MCB Chambers, Gwawr spotted an advert for a SOAS public lecture discussing the legacy of a case she had worked on a decade earlier. Curious, she attended.

The speaker’s critical and contextualised approach resonated deeply. Soon afterwards, she applied for the SOAS LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice, studying part‑time while continuing her legal practice.  

I really appreciated how the university’s proudly non-Eurocentric outlook allowed me to look at the familiar through a different lens.

“It was a fantastic course, and I really valued the space that it gave me to contemplate in-depth concepts that tend to be taken for granted in the fast-paced courtroom environment.”

For Gwawr, the SOAS environment was transformative. ”I really appreciated how the university’s proudly non-Eurocentric outlook allowed me to look at the familiar through a different lens. I was also attracted by the diversity of both the teaching and student communities.”

It’s energising to be part of a community where people don’t just study the world as it is, but challenge themselves to make it better, even if that involves difficult self‑reflection.

Gwawr challenges the assumption, common in legal circles, that practitioners and academics sit on opposite sides of a divide. “At SOAS, I was taught by some really inspiring practitioner-academics who showed me that theoretical rigour and real-world practice actually inform and reinforce each other.”

She also speaks highly of the quality of teaching and the ethos shared by both staff and students. “It’s energising to be part of a community where people don’t just study the world as it is, but challenge themselves to make it better, even if that involves difficult self‑reflection.”

One afternoon, almost without planning to, she blurted out to her supervisor that she was considering a PhD.

Gwawr's research approach stems from her love of archaeology. She likens the research process to being on a dig: “long hours sifting through the mud, finding nothing, until suddenly, something catches your eye. Whether it’s shards of a pot or fragments of ideas,” she says, “that moment when everything starts to fit together is exhilarating.”

A key career moment and the lesson behind it

Beyond developing the ability to think critically and sustain complex arguments, Gwawr thinks that the LLM at SOAS reinforced a truth that has always guided her work: law is ultimately about people, not rules.

“When you’re sitting across the table from someone at their most vulnerable,” she reflects, “they want to know you’re competent—but above all, they want to know you care.”

Gwawr sees the human rights landscape as undergoing a profound crisis. While this is troubling, she views this rupture as a possibility to rethink and reshape the human rights project.

Say yes, even to things that scare you. Career planning is important, but so too is having the courage to go ‘off script’ sometimes.

She recalls how, shortly after leaving Bar school, she received a call telling her that funding for a job she’d accepted had fallen through. But there was an opportunity open with the Centre for Capital Punishment Studies in Malawi. Starting the following Monday. She said yes.

That last‑minute decision ended up shaping her entire career in ways she could never have predicted.

Her advice for aspiring lawyers and researchers is clear: “Say yes, even to things that scare you. Career planning is important, but so too is having the courage to go ‘off script’ sometimes.”

Header image credit: amnaj via Adobe Stock