Internship – Presidency – Legal and Enforcement Unit

23301 Presidency

Organisational Unit:	Legal and Enforcement Unit, Presidency
Duty Station:	The Hague – NL
Contract Duration:	6 Months
Deadline for Applications:	31 December 2024

Due to the volume of applications received, only successful applicants will be contacted by the Court.

Required Documents for This Application

Please note that you will need to have the following information ready in order to complete your application:

• A completed “Duties and Responsibilities Form” (refer to step 1 on your eRecruitment Profile page).
• Motivation letter (maximum of 400 words).
• Two reference letters (one academic).
• Scanned copies of university degrees and/or diplomas.
• Scanned copies of official academic transcripts that state your courses, results and completion date.
• One short essay on a subject relevant to the work of the Court (maximum of 750 words, single spaced, type written).

Contract Duration

Interns are required to work full time for a period between three and six months (to be agreed to prior to commencement). Internship placements shall usually not be extended beyond six months.

The Opportunity

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individual charges with the gravest crimes of concerns to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. The Court is participating in the global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent the crimes from happening again. You can contribute to this cause by joining the ICC.

Organisational Context

The Presidency is one of the four Organs of the Court. It is composed of the President and First and Second Vice-Presidents, all of whom are elected by an absolute majority of the Judges of the Court for a three year renewable term. The judges composing the Presidency serve on a full-time basis.

The Presidency has three main areas of responsibility: judicial/legal functions, administration and external relations. In the exercise of its judicial/legal functions, the Presidency constitutes and assigns cases to Chambers, conducts judicial review of certain decisions of the Registrar and concludes Court-wide cooperation agreements with States and inter-governmental organisations. With the exception of the Office of the Prosecutor, the Presidency is responsible for the proper administration of the Court and oversees the work of the Registry. The Presidency will coordinate and seek the concurrence of the Prosecutor on all matters of mutual concern. Among the Presidency’s responsibilities in the area of external relations is to maintain relations with States and other entities and to promote public awareness and understanding of the Court.

Duties and Responsibilities

Performing his or her duties under the supervision of the Legal Adviser to the ICC President, the Judicial/Legal intern will contribute to:

• Conducting in-depth legal research in administrative, human rights and public international law and other relevant areas of law, on both procedural and substantive issues, in support of the Presidency’s decisions on applications for judicial review;
• Providing support in all aspects of the enforcement of sentences and international cooperation;
• Assisting in drafting legal opinions on the interpretation of the Court’s legal texts, ASP resolutions, international treaties, etc.;
• Providing support in the preparation and servicing internal meetings and committees;
• Assisting in the preparation of speeches, letters, background papers and reports for the President and the Presidency;
• Performing any other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Education:

All Candidates must have a degree or be in the final stages of their studies at a recognised university, demonstrating very good knowledge in public international law, international humanitarian law, human rights law, comparative law, or international /national criminal law. Candidates are expected to have a very good record of academic performance.

Experience:

Internship placements focus on candidates in the early stages of their professional careers. Practical experience is not an essential prerequisite for selection. Should there be a practical experience that is relevant to the work of the Court, it may be considered an asset. However, such working experience should not exceed 3 (three) years.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Able to adapt to multicultural and multilingual working environments.
• Possesses strong teamwork skills (listens, consults and communicates proactively).
• Very good oral communication and drafting skills.
• Has acquired a good standard of computer skills (including Microsoft Office applications) and research skills (including the use of electronic databases).

Knowledge of Languages:

Proficiency in one of the working languages of the Court, French or English, is required. Working knowledge of the other is desirable. Knowledge of another official language of the Court (Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish) is an asset.

Other criteria:

It is the Court’s objective to have diversity and gender balance. In line with the ICC’s efforts to improve geographical representation among staff, nationals of non-represented and under-represented countries at the ICC are encouraged to apply. The list can be found here.    

Remuneration

Please note that internship and visiting professional placements at the ICC are unfunded. The ICC is not able to provide participants in the Internship and Visiting Professional Programme with any remuneration, nor is it possible to provide reimbursement for expenses incurred prior, during or after the internship or visiting professional placement.

Applicants must therefore be able to support themselves for the entire duration of their internship or visiting professional placement.

Limited funding may, however, be available through the ICC’s Trust Fund for the Development of Interns and Visiting Professionals, which receives donations from States Parties and other donors.

If funding is available, the Human Resources Section will advertise a funded vacancy announcement in accordance with the terms of reference of the Trust Fund as agreed by the donors.

In order to be eligible for a funded placement, if advertised, the applicant must, among other criteria, be a national from a country that is a State Party to the Rome Statue and appears on the United Nations Statistics Division’s list of developing regions.