Internship - Trust Fund for Victims (Legal)

The Trust Fund for Victims | 21802

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

Please note that the purpose of this vacancy announcement is to provide hiring managers with a list of suitable candidates from which they may make a selection throughout the year. To this end, candidates are required to specify their availability in the relevant field when applying.

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 Trust Fund (maximum of 750 words, single spaced, type written).

Contract Duration

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

The starting date of the placement may vary, upon agreement. The Trust Fund for Victims will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis, and not only after the deadline for applications. 

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.

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.

Organisational Context

The Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) was created by the Rome Statute (Art 79). It is governed by a Board of Directors, elected every three years by the Assembly of States Parties. The Board is supported by a Secretariat, which carries out the daily management of the TFV’s activities.

The TFV has been entrusted by the Assembly with two main mandates: (i) to implement Court-ordered reparations to victims in a convicted case; and (ii) to provide assistance (physical and psychological rehabilitation and material support) to victims and their families in ICC situation countries.

The mission of the TFV is to respond to the harm resulting from the crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court by ensuring the rights of victims and their families through the provision of reparations and assistance.

The strategic goals of the TFV aim to:

1. Ensure reparative justice for victims to overcome their harm and transform their lives
2. Facilitate assistance and reparations by ensuring financial growth and sustainability
3. Advocate for the rights of victims in the international public domain
4. Ensure good governance, accountability and transparency by creating an effective organisational structure

Whenever appropriate and feasible in the operation of its mandates, the TFV acts as a grant-making mechanism to locally based implementing partners. According to the TFV Regulations, the TFV receives administrative support from the Registry. In as far as not determined by the TFV Regulations, the TFV’s financial-administrative practice complies with the Court’s relevant regulatory provisions.

Duties and Responsibilities

Assist the Trust Fund for Victims with the following tasks, under the supervision and overall coordination of the Legal Officer:

• Conduct legal research and analysis;
• Cite checking of submissions before the Court;
• Assist in the preparation of submissions before the Court;
• Assist in the administrative proceedings of weekly staff meetings;
• Assist in the eligibility screening of victims in reparations proceedings;
• Other tasks as needed.

Required Qualifications

Education:

All Candidates must have a law degree or be in the final stages of their studies at a recognised university. 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:

• Legal analysis and drafting skills;
• Able to adapt to multicultural and multilingual working environments;
• Possesses strong teamwork skills (listens, consults and communicates proactively);
• Has acquired a good standard of computer skills (including Microsoft Office applications).

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. 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.