Aakriti Tripathi

Aakriti Tripathi graduated as valedictorian from Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna. She was awarded the Founder Vice-Chancellor Prof. A. Lakshminath Medal for the Best Student, B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) of the Class of 2014 for excellence in academics and contribution in extra-curriculars. Aakriti served in the Editorial Board of the CNLU Law Journal from 2012 to 2014 and as the Secretary of the CNLU MUN Society from 2011 to 2013. In pursuance of her legal endeavours, Aakriti interned in diverse areas of Law with reputed law firms as well as with Senior Advocates at the Supreme Court of India.

Aakriti has had a keen interest in policy formulation ever since her stint as a young and upcoming legal professional. As a part of a Working Committee formed under the aegis of the UNICEF, she formulated guidelines for the Government of Bihar on use of professionals and experts to assist a child with pre-trial and trial stage, under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

In 2014, she was awarded the Young India Fellowship (YIF), a reputed programme on liberal studies and leadership at Ashoka University, Sonipat. Aakriti was offered campus placement with Samaj Pragati Sahayog, one of India’s largest grassroots initiatives working on water conservation and livelihood security in the tribal belt of the drought-prone Dewas district, in Madhya Pradesh, since 1990.

Residing in a remote hamlet for 27 months, Aakriti worked with 3000 families leading varied development initiatives focusing on livelihood security; empowerment of rural women through literacy and honing leadership skills; gender sensitisation; health and nutrition; water conservation; scaling up traditional sustainable and natural agricultural practices; MGNREGA; and building an effective interface between the government and citizens.

In 2019, Aakriti was made an offer by the University of Cambridge where she pursued Master of Laws in Public International Law, with a focus on International Human Rights Law, International Environmental Law, International Investment Law, and International Law of Global Governance. She is a serving Senior Editor for the De Lege Ferenda, a subsidiary journal of the Cambridge Law Review.

Aakriti has been widely published in various journals on contemporary legal issues. She believes in and encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to legal inquiry.