Middle Templar 2020

Page 58

GALA DINNER

CAMILA FERRARO

since Helena Normanton’s first Qualifying Session Camila Ferraro is this year’s President of the MTSA and is also a Jules Thorn Scholar. She was born in Colombia and raised in Cambridge. Camila is passionate about international criminal law and advocates for minority backgrounds at the Bar. Alongside her studies, Camila works as a Modern Slavery Support Worker at the Medaille Trust.

Camila’s speech from the Celebration of Helena Normanton’s first QS, on Thursday 16 January 2020. My journey begins in a world tucked 5,000 miles away, surrounded by the Amazon and home to people obsessed with dancing Salsa – Colombia. As we mark ‘100 Years of Women in Law’, I wanted to quote Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Colombian Nobel laureate who authored One Hundred Years of Solitude: ‘What matters in life is not what happens to you, but what you remember and how you remember it’. I may have been very young when I encountered the following experiences, but what I remember, and how I remember them, have shaped who I am today. I was born in Medellin, Pablo Escobar’s hometown, within two years of his death. Violence and crime had torn my family and neighbourhood apart. Escobar’s death triggered a chaotic aftermath that left two of my uncles murdered. One of my earliest memories is being held hostage at gunpoint, with my family praying that I do not break into tears as a four year old and provoke the armed robbers. Worried about our lives in Medellin, my single mother and I moved to the UK as refugees and settled in Cambridge. My fiercely independent mother worked tirelessly to provide for me ever since and I am delighted to have her in the audience today, alongside two of my aunties – who probably deserve more credit for my achievements than I do.

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As I have grown older, my childhood experiences have begun to give me a sense of purpose. They have made me ask questions about justice and fairness, and have roused my curiosity to study law. Without them, I would not be pursuing a career at the Criminal Bar. Middle Temple has been instrumental to my achievements and progress in many ways. Firstly, it is easy to feel disconnected from this profession when you come from a different world. There is an adjustment you have to make and Middle Temple helped me a lot in that way. I felt a sense of community as I walked through these doors. Secondly, Middle Temple has helped pay for the entire Bar course. When it came to the MTSA elections, my collective experiences had been so positive that running for the presidency position came as a no-brainer. Today, half of the MTSA is comprised of females. We have six ethnicities and individuals from the LGBT and disability communities. I hope this reflects the future of the Bar.

2020 Middle Templar


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Articles inside

Temple Church Weddings

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page 145

New Masters of the Bench 2019-20

9min
pages 127-129

Middle Temple Students' Association

4min
page 126

Middle Temple Young Barristers' Association

7min
pages 124-125

Hall Committee

4min
page 123

The COIC Pupillage Matched Funded Scheme

3min
page 122

What Have the Bar Council and the Inn Ever Done for Me?

2min
page 119

Behind the Lens

8min
pages 116-118

Temple Residents' Association

4min
page 121

Valedictory: The Rt Hon. Lord Carnwath

7min
pages 114-115

Temple Church During Lockdown

7min
pages 112-113

Lent Reader’s Feast: The Highways, Byways and Blind Alleys of International Law

11min
pages 108-110

Temple Church Choir Summer Review

2min
page 111

Becoming a Barrister

15min
pages 103-105

Autumn Reader's Feast: Current Challenges in the Criminal Justice System

8min
pages 106-107

Talk to Spot

3min
page 102

The Divorce Blame Game is Nearly Over

6min
pages 100-101

You have the Right to Remain Unidentified

7min
pages 98-99

Levelling the Playing Field

8min
pages 96-97

A Day in the Country in Lockdown

9min
pages 92-93

Confronting the Challenges Presented by the Covid-19 Pandemic

8min
pages 90-91

Impeachment of a U.S. President

8min
pages 94-95

How Middle Temple Helped Me

3min
page 88

Don’t Let Commercial Awareness be a Bar to Success

4min
page 87

Student Life at the Inn

3min
page 86

In the Shoes of an Out of London Student

4min
page 85

The Inns of Court

3min
page 84

The ICCA Bar Course

3min
page 83

Troubled Journeys on the Path to Justice

3min
page 82

Turning the Tide against Corruption in the Congo

4min
page 81

My Journey to the Bar and Becoming the First Kurdish Iraqi Barrister

3min
page 80

Qualifying Sessions

4min
page 79

The Role of an Inn of Court

3min
page 78

Five Perspectives on Sponsorship

8min
pages 76-77

Advocacy at the Inn

7min
pages 74-75

Outreach

3min
page 72

Sherrard Conversations

3min
page 73

Mock Pupillage Interviews

7min
pages 68-69

Volunteering at Call Day

2min
pages 70-71

Mooting Trip to Cherokee

9min
pages 65-67

Education Update

4min
page 64

100 Years Since Helena Normanton's First Qualifying Session

2min
page 58

MTYBA & MTSA International Women's Day

2min
page 59

Créme de la Créme Climbing Rose

2min
page 62

Celebrating a Century of Women in Law

5min
pages 56-57

Circuit Societies

15min
pages 53-55

MTYBA Dark Waters Event

3min
page 63

The Rule of Law Under Attack

7min
pages 60-61

Working in the Seychelles

4min
page 52

An Increased Use of Technology in Gibraltar's Legal System

2min
page 51

Access to Justice during the Coronavirus Pandemic: The Malaysian Experience

8min
pages 48-49

Cross Border Practice in Europe and Brexit

4min
page 46

Business as Usual at the European Court of Justice Pending Brexit

7min
pages 44-45

Reflections on a Declaration of Friendship

7min
pages 42-43

Mind the Gap: The General Adjourned Period and the Coronavirus Pandemic in Hong Kong

4min
page 47

Amity Visit to Canada

6min
pages 40-41

Book Review: Equal Justice by Frederick Wilmot-Smith

3min
page 39

Book Review: Court Number One: The Old Bailey Trials that Defined Modern Britain by Thomas Grant

4min
page 38

Book Review: Simon Brown's Memoirs by the The Rt Hon The Lord Brown

4min
page 35

The Ceremonial Plate of the Middle Temple

4min
page 32

Lord Carson of Duncairn: Barrister, Statesman and Judge

11min
pages 27-29

Unshaken & Unshakeable

7min
pages 30-31

A Personal Collection of 15th Century Documents

17min
pages 23-26

Justiciability – A Forgotten Saga

9min
pages 33-34

Readers of the Temple: From the 16th to the 19th Century

9min
pages 20-22

A Potted History of the Office of the Under Treasurer

5min
pages 18-19

Equality and Diversity at the Bar Council

4min
page 13

The Spanish Influenza Pandemic

3min
page 17

Racial Equality, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Working Group

2min
page 12

Black Lives Matter

4min
page 11

BAME and the Bar

4min
page 10

From the Treasurer

6min
pages 8-9

Speech at the Inauguration of the Middle Temple LGBTQ+ Forum

11min
pages 14-16

Under Treasurers’ Forewords

8min
pages 6-7
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