MOTIVATION LETTER

Camila Bani Alawia, Kelompok 1

I am Camila Bani Alawia, graduated from Universitas Indonesia, Faculty of Law. I

currently working as a judge at Muara Bungo General Jurisdiction Court.
I was born as a daughter of a judge. I would not deny that my father gave me a massive
influence on making me want to be a judge. Since I was a child, my father had been
mentoring me about how to be a noble yet professional judge. He showed me his
integrity by the way he ignores anything that might interfere his independency on
deciding a case, such as bribery or physical security threat. He also trains me how to
think systematically since it is needed for a judge to decide a case wisely, especially if
there was not previous law that regulate about a case. My father also had taught me
how crucial the judge verdict to the people itself. Some family can lose their home and
land, by a piece of paper created by judge, or an underage child can lose his youth
because the judge sent them to the jail.
Learning from my childhood experience, I took Sociolegal as my specialization during
my bachelor degree. Taking sociolegal as my specialization allowed me to see law
beyond what is written in the act. I also get my social awareness sharpened because by
learning sociolegal, I understand that Indonesia still far away from having access to
justice and practicing fair trial. For deepening my understanding on fair trial and access
to justice, I took a program named Kursus HAM (Human Rights Intensive Class)
organized by Jentera Law School and KONTRAs, an NGO focus on human rights in
Indonesia. After joining this program, I realized that in the end, Indonesia needs a
professional judge that have deeper understanding on human rights and have a strong
sense of justice.
Done with educate myself on sharpening my sense of justice, I realized I need more. I
realized my current level of knowledge is still not enough to fulfill what Indonesia’s need
from the judges. There were too many subjects that I have not understand yet, such as
environmental law, comparative law, or business law, that all of it is needed to be
understood by a judge because we know that “ius curia novit” means judge should be
considered knowing every law. This is why I need a scholarship that can allowed me to
continue my study on taking general LLM program.
If I chosen as an awardee of this scholarship, I would not only use the knowledge for my
self that I implemented on my verdict, but also, I want to share it to other judges by
joining as a lecturer of Mahkamah Agung Education and Training Center (PUSDIKLAT
Mahkamah Agung RI). With many teaching experiences that I have since I was still
undergraduate that I mentioned on my CV, I believe I could deliver the knowledge I get
from my master degree to all the judges all over Indonesia. Thus, by my writing skills, I
can also publish my writing to journal named Varia Peradilan that is read by all the
judges in Indonesia.
In conclusion, I would like to say that I am eager to broaden my understanding on law. I
believe I would contribute significantly to improve the justice system in Indonesia after I
finish my master degree program, indeed by spreading it to other judges through
lecturing and writing.