Fellowship overview

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is calling for applications for the 2021-2022 Judicial Fellowship Programme. Since its establishment, the Programme has enabled recent law graduates to obtain experience working at the ICJ. The program also helps fellows to foster their understanding of international law and of the Court’s procedures by actively bringing them in the work of the Court and allowing them to expand their experience under the supervision of a judge.

Universities can nominate their excellent law graduates for the fellowship. So, if you are eligible, consult your relevant university.

Details

Submission deadline: 14 February 2021

Host institution: International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Nominator and sponsor: Candidate’s university

Number of participants: Up to 15 (one from each nominating university)

Final decision notification by the court: April 2021

Duration:  Around 10 months

Benefits

• The Court will facilitate visa if required, and working facilities nut no financial benefit.
• Participants’ nominating universities must agree to fund their nominees’ fellowship costs such as stipend, insurance, and travel costs.
• The nominators must ensure funding sufficient for applicants’ fellowship completion in full.
• The fellowship is not self-financed and candidates without funds from nominators cannot apply.

Program outline and fellows’ responsibilities

 During the fellowship course, participants can expect to:

• Participate in public hearings of the Court
• Research and write memorandums on legal questions or factual aspects of pending cases, and
• Involve to some degree in other aspects of the Court’s work (as per the assigned judge working method)
• The Work may also involve assisting the judge with conferences, speeches and other responsibilities.
• Participants will work with an associate legal officer, who is the primary legal assistant of each judge and is appointed by the United Nations for a period of two to four years.

Eligibilities

• Candidates who have excellent results in their law studies and who have studied, published or have work experience in international law are highly eligible.
• Applicants should be 31 years old or younger at the time the program begins. This requirement may alter in special circumstances.
• Court seeks candidates of diverse nationalities for the program.

Language:

Selected fellows should demonstrate written and spoken skills and ability in one of the official languages of the court i.e., English or French, but skills in both is desirable.

Further conditions

The Court encourages universities to recommend more than one nominee. Universities are also highly encouraged to only nominate candidates with excellent results in their law studies and who have demonstrated an interest in international law through their studies, publications, or work experience. The Court does not accept individual applications.

How to apply?

Only universities that accept the above terms can nominate their candidate(s) by filling out the form linked below. Nominators who give positive answers to the questions on the form are eligible and will receive further application guidelines.

Initial nomination form

Nominated applicants must submit to the court the following material through their universities:

1. Letter from the university accepting to support the candidate;
2. Application form and summary table, filled in by the candidate;
3. Two or three letters of recommendation;
4. Official academic documents of the candidate;
5. One writing sample (not more than 15 pages).

For queries, nominees may refer to the Deputy-Registrar of the ICJ at the following address: judicialfellowsprogramme@icj-cij.org​.

For further information, you may visit the website of the International Court of Justice.