Daniel Torres Checa

MSc Human Rights (2024)

Come with an open mind and embrace everything LSE has to offer. The vibrant city, the community around you, your peers, your professors, the guest speakers —these are all remarkable people in their fields, who will challenge you, teach you, and push you to explore new limits

Tell us about your journey since graduating from LSE?

I came to LSE in search of a stronger theoretical foundation to confront the human rights challenges unfolding in my country. After graduating in 2024, I can say that LSE completely shaped the way I think about the law and defined the path I hope to chart in my professional career.

Right around the time I graduated from LSE, Mexico passed a sweeping judicial reform that completely restructured the Supreme Court and forced hundreds of judges and magistrates to resign, replacing them with elected judges. I am a Mexican lawyer and was convinced I wanted to work on cases in my own country, but I was uncertain and concerned about such profound changes to the justice system. After serious reflection, I decided that rather than stepping back, I would engage, and shaped a professional path around two complementary commitments.

The first is practice. After graduation, I joined a leading boutique law firm in Mexico specialising in public law litigation, which has allowed me to re-engage with constitutional and human rights litigation in the courts of my country, and to fight, through those courts, for rights and causes I believe in.

The second is teaching. LSE confirmed for me that the university classroom is a sacred space, and I wanted to keep engaging with the ideas and debates that defined my time there. I began teaching in the Law Department at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), where I am currently a lecturer in legal reasoning. It felt important to me to bring to new generations the contemporary issues and debates I encountered during my time in London.

What advice would you give to current students?

When I arrived at LSE, I was excited but overwhelmed. London and LSE offer so much information and so many opportunities that it is easy to feel mesmerised by the intellectual environment. During Autumn Term, I went to Professor Ayça Çubukçu's office hours with an idea for my dissertation topic. Her advice went something like this: "Don't rush, and don't try to explain the things that interest you through the lens you are currently wearing. You will be exposed to so much during the master's that many of the things you take for granted today will look very different tomorrow."

That, I think, is the advice I would pass on to current students. Come with an open mind and embrace everything LSE has to offer. The vibrant city, the community around you, your peers, your professors, the guest speakers —these are all remarkable people in their fields, who will challenge you, teach you, and push you to explore new limits. It is important to approach this environment with curiosity, open-mindedness and humility.

What skills from your time at LSE equipped you for the future?

One of the most valuable skills I took from LSE is the ability to understand law and human rights beyond the confines of legal doctrine. What makes the MSc Human Rights programme truly distinctive is its interdisciplinary approach: studying rights as social constructs, as political struggles, as legal entitlements, and as philosophical, sociological and moral questions reveals a far more complex picture than any single discipline could encompass on its own. That layered analytical framework has given me a richer and more honest understanding of the world and of my discipline.

What is your proudest achievement?

One of my proudest personal moments was the day I submitted my LSE dissertation and later saw it published in my alma mater's law review. That moment led me to reflect on my academic journey, the love I have for what I do, the support of my family and loved ones, and the path travelled from law school to London, with its highs and lows, but also with commitment, passion and faith in what matters to me.

On the professional side, I am particularly proud of being part of the litigation team that argued before the Supreme Court of Mexico the case that prevented the Army from taking control of the National Guard - a ruling with significant implications for civilian oversight of military forces. The case sat at the intersection of two of my deepest professional interests, litigation and human rights, and sparked a broader academic and professional engagement with the issue of militarisation in Mexico and the region. That work brought me into contact with authors I admire, led me to write on the subject, and fuelled a public debate that allowed me to engage with national and international media outlets such as The Economist.

Where was your favourite place on campus?

LSE's campus sits right in the heart of London, and there is something remarkable about moving through its buildings and feeling the pulse of one of the world's most vibrant cities just outside. Perhaps for the love of that feeling, my favourite spot was the top floor of the Centre Building, where you could sit and study with an uninterrupted view of the Thames, Elizabeth Tower, the Royal Courts of Justice, the London Eye, and virtually every major landmark on the London skyline.

I remember one afternoon particularly vividly. Cass Sunstein, one of the most influential legal scholars of our time, had just given a talk on campus presenting his new book, and afterwards I went up to the terrace to jot down some ideas for a summative essay I was working on. At some point, I looked up and realised the sky had turned into a stunning sunset over the city. I paused for a moment, took it all in, and simply thought: “this is perfection”.

Was there a defining moment early in your legal training or career that confirmed this was the right path for you?

More than a single defining moment, my path has been shaped by a series of trials and errors that gradually pointed me in the right direction. When I started law school, I had many doubts about my future as a lawyer. I was not drawn to civil law, and my early professional experiences in mergers and acquisitions, corporate law and tax law simply did not fulfil my expectations.

What began to shift my focus was noticing, during law school, that the subjects I was most drawn to, and the professors I admired most, were concentrated in public law. Around the same time, I also found myself looking up to my brother, who was involved in social and student activism, which strengthened my connection to the country and its public affairs.

That combination became a quiet but powerful guide for me. I began to find my footing as a lawyer interested in constitutional and public law, litigation and human rights. These fields sit at the intersection of fundamental social and political questions, and they have served as the anchor of my career ever since.