By Björn Elberling
One of my post ideas for when I finally have the time to do all the blogging I want is a list of ways for (young) international lawyers to enter the field of international criminal defence work. For the moment, all I have is an interesting opportunity for an (unpaid, alas) internship with the International Bar Association. The IBA has a monitoring and outreach project which has, inter alia, published several reports on the work of the court with a focus on the Defence perspective. The IBA is looking for someone with "advanced studies in law specialising in international criminal [law], humanitarian [law] and/or human rights" – maybe that is meant to include upper-level students… The internship is in The Hague for the period of July-December 2008, it is unpaid but travel assistance may be available. The deadline for applications is 23 May 2008. Hat tip to the wonderful Hague Justice Portal, which has the announcement here.
I know this was a big issue at UN Headquarters. Indeed it seems that only privileged people can afford unpaid internships. As I noted in my post on Equitable Geographic Representation and United Nations Regional Groups, of 157 interns in the UN Intern Yearbook of Spring 2008, 13 are from Africa, 38 from Asia, 3 from Eastern Europe, 17 from Latin American and Caribbean States, and 86 from Western European and other States. Many of those interns from Africa that I met personally actually studied (for a PhD or Masters) somewhere in Europe or North-America.
It was a big issue among us interns. See my post on Why the internship at UN Headquarters should be (un)paid here.
I think I’m mostly with trainee on this one – I immensely enjoyed my internship at the ICC and it sure gave me a lot of experience (and, yes, a line on my C.V., although I hate to (have to) think about it that way). But if I hadn’t received a stipend, and if I hadn’t known that I could come back to my old job afterwards, I wouldn’t have been able to do it – and I am looking at the issue from the perspective of a privileged Western European…
I am not disputing the value of experience gained during the internship. If I had a chance, I would do all the Tribunals in the Hague. However, 6 months period during which you have to be self-sustained is costly. In order to apply for a decent ICL-related job you are usually required to have at least 2 years of experience. That’s a lot of money, and in most countries ‘sponsoring institutions’ for unremunerated internships are non-existent. There you have a difference between chances of Dutch, being local, and foreign students.
There is, of course, another way of looking at it. You will benefit from the experience, and of course the internship will be another addition to your CV, and thus it will improve your chances for a good job in the (immediate) future, a paid job that is. In fact, I love unpaid internships! And it is nice to be abroad. Well, that’s my opinion on this matter.
Love unremunerated internships, modern slavery. Since all of them are abroad, you actually pay money for your own work. Especially in ICL field.