Internship - Counsel Support Section

22781 | Registry

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 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 Counsel Support Section (CSS) is in charge of centralizing and coordinating all assistance provided to counsel by the Court. It serves as the Registry’s focal point for the Offices of Public Counsel, which depend on the Registry solely for administrative purposes, and also provides logistical and administrative assistance. The Section also manages the Court’s programme of legal aid for indigent defendants and victims and handles all provisions relating to the activities of the Court’s disciplinary organs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Section Chief, interns will perform one or several of the following tasks:

• Research and preparation of background reports;
• Drafting memoranda, reports, letters, briefing notes, speeches and other correspondence;
• Support for the preparation of internal and external meetings and ensure an accurate recording of meetings;
• Assisting in the preparation of presentations for internal and external audiences;
• Other tasks as may be required by the Section Chief.

Required Qualifications

Education:

All candidates must have a relevant 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:

• 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. 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.