When Amina Hassan enrolled at SNU’s Faculty of Law in 2015, she had one clear ambition: to contribute to rebuilding Somalia’s justice system. Seven years later, at 29, she was sworn in as a judge of the Benadir Regional Court – one of the youngest female judges in Somali legal history.
"SNU gave me not just legal knowledge, but the confidence to believe that the rule of law was something I could personally help build," Amina says. "My professors showed me that justice is not an abstraction. It is something that must be fought for, case by case, argument by argument."
A Deliberate Path
After graduating with First Class Honours in 2019, Amina spent three years as a legal aid lawyer at the Somali Women’s Development Centre, representing women in land tenure disputes, family law cases, and gender-based violence cases. "Those three years were the most formative of my professional life," she reflects. "I saw exactly which gaps existed in our legal system, which procedures were inaccessible to ordinary people. When I sat the judicial examination, I already knew from lived experience what justice needed to look like."
She passed the judicial examination in the top five candidates nationally and completed a six-month judicial training programme at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha, Tanzania.
Message to Current Students
"Do not wait until you feel ready. You will never feel fully ready. Start doing the work that matters now, even when it feels imperfect. Somalia cannot wait for perfect. Neither can justice."
Amina Hassan graduated from SNU’s Faculty of Law in 2019 with First Class Honours and was sworn in as a judge of the Benadir Regional Court in March 2026.