Our deputy Head of Justice Unit, Maria Ek Odsjo, is a senior judge in her mid-50s.

In Sweden, where she comes from, she has for the last years extensively been working on asylum and security related cases, including dealing with individuals arriving from then ISIS ruled Syria and Iraq.

The cases she was presented with, reached Maria through the criminal justice chain, having been dealt with by the Swedish police before arriving on her desk..

Her latest role in the Swedish justice system was to lead and manage the work of around 45 legal professionals. Each of them had cases to solve. Maria had the overall oversight and also, depending on the situation, the responsibility to approve asylum, .

This has exposed Maria with a wide range of people  coming from parts of the world she had never travelled to. In other words, she had the opportunity to get to know different cultures through human and professional interaction doing her job in Stockholm.

Asked when and how the decision to be a judge appeared on her life horizon, Maria answers that this happened during her time as a young law clerk in a small town in her homeland.

Having always been interested in society and political science, Maria initially chose law for her university studies with the initial attitude  of “giving it a try”.

She explains that she “very much liked both criminal and civilian proceedings, as well as social law”.

Much later, as an experienced professional, Maria represented Sweden in Brussels, working at the Swedish Permanent EU Representation  with  law drafting.

The choice to join EUPOL COPPS and come to Palestine is partly linked to her experience in dealing with many cases involving people from the Middle East.. “I wanted to experience the culture firsthand, meet the people, to see for myself what it looks like, to experience what it means to walk through Damascus Gate in the daylight and at night. Now that I can do it, I know what an amazing feeling it is to pass by this special place. This means something special to me and has taught me something essential about different life conditions.

When Maria first joined the Mission, she was a Senior Justice Advisor advising her Palestinian colleagues on court proceeding related matters. She had  the possibility to learn from her Palestinian colleagues and share her own experiences from her own professional career.

Working in an international environment such as an EU Mission is also somehow life changing, indicates Maria.

“In my current role, I strive to support my colleagues in solving challenges and problems, when these occur. With the counterparts I now see my role as a way of giving my contribution to advancing Rule of Law in Palestine”.

Among the milestones carrying a personal touch during her career as a judge, Maria recalls the time she had a case of a Palestinian family coming from Iraq exposed to a very difficult situation where she  contributed to them being granted asylum on the basis of the need for education of their young children aged 10 and 12.

As every new experience in life produces a change in each of us, working in Palestine has made Maria, as she explains, a bit humbler as an individual, more understanding of difficult situations, having had the chance to see these firsthand.

The realisation of having an EU-passport appearing “privileged” compared to others, for example Palestinians (many can’t even have one), is also a humbling experience, says Maria, who has observed what happens at border crossing points like the Allenby Bridge (border between Israel and Jordan, editor’s note), seeing the difference of procedures occurring according to the kind of documentation provided.

“I now understand a lot more things about the people from the Middle East I met in my country” says Maria.

When thinking about the time when she will be returning to Sweden, Maria believes her experience in Palestine will make her a better judge. Although, she said, I think I would prefer to have further experiences in CSDP Missions after Palestine before returning to be a judge in my country. She has pinned Ukraine on the map, where a sister EU Civilian CSDP is deployed, however that will have to wait as there still so much to do here to support Palestine.