IBL Week: Interview with Zhibek Akimbaeva

November 12, 2013

-Tell us please, why did you choose AUCA? And why IBL?

When studying at high school I wanted to enter to Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University’s law department. However, by the advice of my brother who studies there, I started to look for other Universities. My choice started and stopped at AUCA. IBL Department was exactly what I wanted. I dreamed to be an international lawyer. I wanted to know not only Kyrgyz legislation, but also international one. After entering AUCA I have no regrets that I chose law department of this University. Profession of the lawyer is that you need a huge experience in order to be the good one. Knowing the laws and implementing them in practice are absolutely different things. That is why I like that IBL department is mostly concentrated on the practical aspects. There is a Legal Clinic where we are working with people who have real legal problems. Once I had a chance to represent my client in the court. It was really exciting and unforgettable.

 

- Tell us about your favorite classes from IBL, why do you like it?

One of my favorite classes was “Civil law. Torts” taught by Natalia Borisovna Alenkina. I liked that in this class you always get answers to your questions and you really understand the topic. Even though your final grade is not excellent (IBL students will understand me), you get real knowledge of the subject.

 

I also liked International Public Law, which was really interesting for me. Our professor Kamilla Mateeva performed information that was easy to understand. I really enjoyed classes of IPL.

 

Currently I am taking Investment Law class, which is also my favorite one. This subject is connected with my future senior thesis. It is really interesting and useful for me to get deeper information in this sphere of law. Our professor Begaiym Bekturovna is specialized in this sphere of law and has a lot of sources and information on this subject, which makes our class even more interesting.

 

Finally, I want to emphasize classes taught by our professor from Washington D.C. – Sarah King. I like all of her classes, as she is a good at performing information to students. Especially I like the way she talks: she is a real lawyer. I also want to have formal, academic words in my speech. Sarah has a big experience in legal sphere, so I have a lot of things to learn from her.

 

-  Tell us a little about your projects, competitions, if you had participated in any?

I was not an active student when I was freshman and sophomore. But since I became a junior student I had a desire to participate in different projects, competitions. This desire is growing now, that is why I will definitely take part in different projects and competitions this year. About the project in which I participated, it was last year when I assisted IBL department in writing research paper about the development of legal education in the Kyrgyz Republic. Me and 4 other IBL students made a research on this topic, which should be printed in a magazine in United States.  

 

-What did your department give you?

My department gave me good knowledge, experience, advises, and support. My department always pays attention to what might be useful for its students. They always notify us about different events, lectures, scholarships in legal sphere, which is very advantageous for us.

 

I want to take this opportunity to thank my Department for everything. For me, professors and students of IBL department are the best!

 

-Tell us about your senior thesis. What are you going to write about?

I guess that seniors of IBL department are ahead of other departments’ students in writing senior thesis. We have already submitted the first chapter of our theses, when others only choosing the topics.

 

My senior thesis topic is Analysis of state regulation of the relationship between mining companies and local population in KR. Kyrgyzstan is facing a huge problem on this matter now. Everyone might know about incidents happened in Djeti-Oguz district of Issyk-Kul region between “Kumtor Operating Company” and local population. As these problems are not regulated in a proper legal way, I want to give some recommendations on how to do that based on my research. I hope that I will reach all my goals on senior thesis.

 

-  Who do you want to be after graduation? In what field are you going to work?

I want to be a Master of Law degree student somewhere abroad. I want to study there sometime and come back to Kyrgyzstan to implement all the knowledge. Here I would like to become a lawyer in a law firm and specialize either on investment or commercial law.

 

-  All IBL students need to pass their internship as in other AUCA departments. What was your internship? What did you do? Was it interesting and helpful?

IBL students have internships at the end of sophomore and at the end of junior year of study. Internships have to be passed at the courts and in other law organizations. I passed internships at Pervomay District Court, Bishkek city Court and in “Kalikova&Associates” law firm. In the courts I attended proceedings, lead protocols, etc. It was very interesting and useful to see how all the things happen in practice and how legal documents look like.

 

Internship at “Kalikova&Associates” law firm was very interesting and useful. I learned how to draw up different contracts, how to write different legal documents. By getting comments from lawyers I learned very important things. It was very useful that if I was involved to one process, I was involved from the start till the end. It helped me to see the whole picture of how everything goes in practice. IBL department internships gave me basic, the most important experience for my professional future.

 

-Your wishes and advises to future IBL students

Always do everything on time! Everyone will tell you that as a lawyer you have to adhere deadlines strictly. And they are right. You will have a lot of assignments to read and no less to write. That is why try to manage your time and not postpone everything till the last day. I know it may seem that I am like a Captain Obvious, but if you follow this advise, it will be easier for you.

 

If you are IBL student, study hard. Otherwise do not become a lawyer, because people trust to lawyers their lives, rights, properties, investments, money and other important things. Justify their trust and make people happier. Good luck and a lot of patience!  

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