Internship - Presidency - External Relations

21758 | Presidency

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).

Important message:
To participate in containing the COVID-19 spread and in line with the measures adopted by the Host State, interns and visiting professionals may be asked to work remotely during their placement. While working remotely, they are still required to work from within the duty station, The Hague. The currently applicable measures of the Court will be shared with each candidate prior to the starting date of his/her placement.

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 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 crime of aggression. The Court is participating in the global fight to end impunity, and through the 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 Presidency has three main areas of responsibility: judicial/legal functions, administration and external relations.

In the area of external relations, the Presidency’s responsibilities are to maintain relations with States and other entities and to promote public awareness and universality of the Court. The successful candidates will provide support to the External Relations Advisor on issues relating to international relations, politics, diplomacy and public relations.

Duties and Responsibilities

Performing his or her duties under the supervision of the External Relations Adviser to the ICC President, the External Relations intern will contribute to:

• Preparation of background information ahead of the President's travel and diplomatic meetings, researching relevant legal and political developments and obtaining relevant information from other sections/organs of the Court;
• Drafting and revision of external and internal correspondence, letters, speeches, presentations, memoranda and other requested materials and verifying format according to Protocol standard;
• Communicating with other Court organs on various external relations activities;
• Taking notes during meetings and preparing
• Performing any other duties as required.

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 international /national criminal law, comparative law and criminology, public international law, international humanitarian law or human rights. 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. However, practical experience that is relevant to the work of the Court may be considered an asset.

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, English or French, is required. Working knowledge of the other is desirable. 

Other criteria:

It is the Court’s objective to have diversity and gender balance. And 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.