International and Regional Tribunals

Some of these courts, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, offer structured programs that are open to law students and recent
graduates throughout the world. In these cases, the courts provide application forms (e.g., International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) OR??. Other courts have no structured system.

International Court of Justice
Peace Palace
2517 KJ The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel: 31 070 302 23 23
Fax: 31 070 364 99 28
Email: recrutement-recruitment@icj-cij.org
Web: www.icj-cij.org
Traineeship Program: The ICJ has a formal traineeship program, with individual judges, which is
available to students and recent graduates of YLS and other schools designated by the ICJ.
Trainees assist members of the court in tasks such as drafting opinions, orders, and other court
documents; preparing for oral arguments; and researching a variety of legal issues. Once the
trainees are chosen, the individual judges also use the application materials to designate which
trainee they wish to have assigned to them. It is possible that the trainee will work with more than
one judge. Candidates must be proficient in at least one of the ICJ’s official languages, English or
French, and a good working knowledge of the other is helpful. The ICJ sets the application
timetable; last year, YLS application materials were due in mid-January.
Internships: The Court offers unpaid internships of one to three months, under the supervision of
the Registry staff, to students and young professionals who are in the early stages of their careers.
Given the size of the organization, only a limited number of internships can be offered throughout
the year. Placements are, however, possible in all departments and divisions of the Registry. The
working languages of the Court are English and French. Details regarding the internships may be
found on the Court’s website, at http://www.icj-cij.org/registry/index.php?p1=2&p2=6.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis via an online application form accessed from the
Internships web page cited above.

International Criminal Court
Street Address:
Maanweg, 174
2516 AB, The Hague
The Netherlands
Postal Address:
P.O. Box 19519
2500 CM, The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel: 31 (0)70 515 8515
Fax: 31 (0)70 515 8555
Email: applications@icc-cpi.int
Web: www.icc-cpi.int
Internships and Visiting Professionals: The Court has available internships for periods of three to
six months. Visiting professionals may work for one to three months. Positions are to be filled
preferably by a national of a state party to the ICC Statute, or of a state which has signed and is
engaged in the ratification process or which is engaged in the accession process. Nationals from
non-state parties may also be considered. Interns must be under 35 years old; there is no age limit
for visiting professionals. See the recruitment section of the Court’s website for extensive details
on the application process.

The Internship Coordinator
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
P.O. Box 6016
Arusha, Tanzania
Attention: Ms. Felicia Madigane
Tel: 1 212 963 2850
Fax: 1 212 963 2848/49
Email: madigane@un.org
Web: www.ictr.org or www.un.org/ictr/
Opportunities: The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda offers a two- to six-month unpaid
internship for graduate and post-graduate students. The internship program seeks to provide
practical experience to the participants in their field of study, while providing necessary
assistance to the offices to which the intern is assigned. However, the program has no standard
format. Each individual’s internship is formed around the specific needs of the ICTR at the time.
Candidates must be endorsed by their educational institution and are expected to be at an early
stage of their career, holders of public office, or expecting to hold public office. Candidates must
state clearly and precisely their particular field of interest and/or submit a topic for a thesis or
paper on international humanitarian law/human rights/international criminal law/comparative
law/international law. Proficiency in English or French is required, and knowledge of Swahili or
Kinyarwanda is helpful, though not necessary. Interested applicants should submit an application
(available from the ICTR website), two references, their most recent university transcript, a cover
letter explaining the applicant’s interest in the internship, a sample of research/coursework
relevant to the preferred assignment area (prepared in English or French), and an official
endorsement by the university to the contact address above.
Accepted interns will be responsible for transportation and the necessary visas. They will also be
responsible for housing, living expenses, daily transport to the ICTR office, and obtaining both
regular and major medical health insurance. Interns seeking permanent employment must wait six
months following the end of the internship to apply for permanent positions with the ICTR.

Raad Alkhalili
Head of Recruitment, Training and Examination Unit
Human Resources Section
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
P.O. Box 13888
2501 EW The Hague
The Netherlands
Email: internshipoffice@icty.org
Web: www.un.org/icty
Opportunities: The ICTY offers unpaid internships, which last for three to six months, for law
school graduates or those in the final stages of their graduate legal studies. Interns may assist the
Registry, the Chambers, or the Office of the Prosecutor. Applicants should be sponsored and/or
nominated by an educational institution, government body, or private organization, in conjunction
with the application form. Applicants must be proficient in English and/or French, both written
and oral, and knowledge of other languages, particularly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, is an asset.

Iran-United States Claims Tribunal
Parkweg 13
2585 JH The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel: 31 70 352 0064
Fax: 31 70 350 2456
Email: d.valk@iusct.nl
Opportunities: In the past, the three U.S. Judges have hired law clerks. Clerkships are normally
for two-year terms with the possibility of extending service if mutually agreeable to the Judge and
clerk. Prior clerkship or work experience is valued. Because there are only three U.S. Judges,
vacancies occur unpredictably. Applications will be kept on file even if no opportunity is
available at the time it is submitted.

The Internship Coordinator
Personnel Section
Special Court for Sierra Leone
Jomo Kenyatta Road
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Fax: 39 0831 257204 or 232 22 297204
E-mail: scsl-interns@un.org
Web: www.sc-sl.org
Special Court of Sierra Leone Internship Programme: Internships are available in various offices
including, Chambers, the Registry, Office of the Prosecutor, Defense Office, Public Affairs
Office, Court Management, and Outreach. Interns are given the opportunity to work on current
cases, prepare decisions, draft opinions, and work on overall issues surrounding the Court, or
participate in taking information about the Court to the people of Sierra Leone as part of the
Outreach or Public Affairs teams.
Interns in Chambers, the Registry, Office of the Prosecutor, and the Defense Office should have a
first level degree qualification preferably in law. Study in the area of international humanitarian
law will be considered as an advantage. No formal qualifications are required for interns in the
Public Affairs Office, Court Management, Outreach and other offices. All interns must be
proficient in English, both written and spoken. Knowledge of local languages will be an
advantage in applying for the Programme.
All internships are for a period of six months. No extension will be granted. Internships for less
than six months will be allowed only in circumstances agreed between the Programme
Coordinator and the Head of Section requesting the intern(s). An acceptance of an internship is
not an offer of a permanent job in the Special Court, and interns should not expect to be offered a
job on the basis of having previously secured an internship.
The Special Court no longer offers funded internships for international applicants. Funding is
available only for applicants who are nationals of Sierra Leone.
Application forms and a description of the duties to be performed by interns in the various offices
are available at the Court’s website by clicking on “Internship,” under the “Vacancies” tab. You
will be required to rank in order of preference the three offices in which you would like to work
as an intern. Send the application to the Special Court Personnel section, clearly marked
“Internship Programme” to the address above. Applications will be considered on a competitive
basis.

European Court of Human Rights
Council of Europe
Traineeship Office, Directorate of Human Resources
67075 Strasbourg-Cedex
France
Tel: 33 03 88 41 20 18
Fax: 33 03 88 41 27 30
Email: traineeship.drh@coe.int
Web: www.echr.coe.int
Traineeships: The European Court of Human Rights offers three-month, unpaid traineeships to students
who are nationals of one of the Council of Europe’s member states. French is the primary language of the
court, and a facility with French is necessary for trainees. Trainees are usually recent law school graduates
and they may serve a member of the Court during one of three periods throughout the year: January–
March, April–June, and September–December. Applications for 2009 can be found online at
www.coe.int/t/e/Human_Resources/Jobs/11_Traineeship_opportunities/ starting in April 2008, and must
arrive at the Council of Europe headquarters no later than September 15, 2008.
The Young Lawyers’ Scheme: Attorneys at the start of their career can work at the Registry for one year
and may extend their employment up to four years. Their principal task is to deal with individual
applications originating from their own legal system, written in their own language. To be eligible, you
must be a national of, and hold a law degree obtained in, one of the Council of Europe’s member states.

Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Apartado 6906-1000
San José, Costa Rica
Tel: 506 234 0581
Fax: 506 234 0584
Email: corteidh@corteidh.or.cr
Web: www.corteidh.or.cr
Internship and Visiting Professionals Program: This program at the IACHR offers current law students
and attorneys, among others, the opportunity to work directly with members of the Legal Department and
the Deputy Secretariat of the IACHR in whatever capacity is necessary. These positions are unpaid and
interns and visiting professionals are responsible for all expenses, including living costs and
arrangements, during their assignment to the Court. The work can include researching human rights issues,
writing reports, analyzing international human rights jurisprudence, assisting with the process of
contentious cases, advisory opinions, provisional measures and supervision of the compliance of the
Court’s judgments, providing logistical assistance during public hearings, and developing legal arguments
for specific cases. The interns and professional interns must also participate in the
daily activities of the Court, such as the review and translation of documents, and other administrative
tasks.
Student applicants must be committed to the subject of human rights. With respect to attorney applicants,
academic knowledge and professional experience related to the Inter-American System for the Protection
of Human Rights, public and private international law, international humanitarian law, international
human rights law, and international comparative law are highly valued. Good oral and written skills in
Spanish and English are essential; Spanish is the principal language used at work. In addition, knowledge
of other official languages of the Court, such as Portuguese and French, is greatly valued.
A minimum of three months of availability is required and applications for internships longer than three
months are highly valued. The application deadlines are as follows: apply before November 15 for a
position during the months of January to April; before March 15, for May to August positions; and before
July 15, for September to December positions. For more details, visit the Court’s website, at
www.corteidh.or.cr/pasantias.cfm.

Central American Court of Justice
Magistrado Corte Centroamericana de Justicia
Bolonia, 1804
De Pricesmart 1 ½ c. arriba
Managua, Nicaragua
Centroamérica
Tel: 505 2666273
Fax: 505 2664604
Email: cortecen@ccj.org.ni
Web: www.ccj.org.ni
- no information regarding internships, etc. programs????????????????????????????