Presidency and Chambers

Presidency and Chambers Internship Programme

The Presidency and Chambers Internship Programme is aimed at recruiting strongly motivated students and young professionals interested in the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to serve as interns at the Court. This Programme is currently funded by European Union, the Governments of Finland, Switzerland, the Republic of Korea and the Netherlands, as well as the MacArthur Foundation.

The Programme has the following main purposes:

• Interns gain practical knowledge and experience of the workings of the Presidency and Chambers, as well as an in-depth understanding of the ICC’s mandate and operations.
• The Presidency and Chambers benefit from the knowledge and motivation of the interns who assist judges and staff members in their duties, thus substantially contributing to the work of the Court.
• The Presidency and Chambers Internship Programme helps raise global awareness of the ICC and fosters support of the Court in the participants’ countries of origin. The Programme it is also intended to promote better cooperation between national jurisdictions and the ICC.

Placement opportunities in the Presidency & Chambers

The following Internship placements are available in the Presidency and Chambers. The separate descriptions provided under each link below serve to help the candidate identify which placement matches their academic or professional background and interests. Candidates may list up to two preferences on their application form for the Presidency and Chambers.

1. Presidency
1. Judicial/Legal
2. Administration
3. External Relations
2. Chambers

Candidates may also apply for a placement with the Strategic Planning Coordinator that works for the Court as a whole.

Strategic Planning Coordinator

The strategic planning coordinator works for the court as a whole to further develop and facilitate the implementation of the ICC strategic plan. This requires a coordinated approach across the different organs and levels of the Court. The Strategic Planning Coordinator assists designated senior managers who are responsible for managing these processes. In addition, the Strategic Planning Coordinator works to support the development and implementation of Court-wide planning cycles as well as the development at all levels of strategic and operations plans that facilitate the work of the Court as a whole or are of importance to the Court generally.

Interns play a key role enabling the Coordinator to deal with a wider array of issues of concern to the Court as a whole and the individual elements that make up the Court.

Tasks typically assigned to Interns working with the Strategic Planning Coordinator may include:

• Working on ongoing projects/ project planning and management
• Assisting in the development and implementation of the strategic planning cycle
• Research and participation in developing or enhancing relevant policies, procedures and planning cycles
• Developing improved key performance indicators
• Supporting development and implementation of a Risk Management system
• Supporting new initiative undertaken by the Strategic Planning Coordinator
• Preparing for inter-organ coordination meetings
• Accurately recording of meetings and follow up of decisions taken
• Coordinating with units from around the Court in relation to the work of the office.
• Any other work as requested

In addition to fulfilling the general eligibility requirements of the ICC internship programme, the successful candidate should be pursuing or have a degree in business or public administration, management, strategic planning, project management or other relevant field(s). Has good writing skills, is self- motivated, creative and analytical. Relevant experience is considered an asset.

Languages 

Competency in English is essential; working knowledge of French, the other official language of the Court, is considered an asset.

Presidency and Chambers Visiting Professional Programme

1. Presidency

The Presidency of the Court consists of a President and two Vice-Presidents elected by the Judges. The Presidency is entrusted with three main functions: judicial/legal administration and external relations. In the execution of these functions, the Presidency is assisted by a judicial/legal team, an administration team and an external relations team, all under the leadership of the Chef de Cabinet.

a. Judicial/Legal

The judicial/legal functions of the Presidency are twofold. First, the Presidency provides support to enable the Chambers to conduct fair, effective and expeditious public proceedings such as constituting and assigning situations to Chambers, organising the plenary sessions and liaising with the Registry. Second, the Presidency has specific legal and judicial functions, including the judicial review of certain decisions of the Registrar; the conclusion of Court wide cooperation agreements (e.g. bilateral arrangements with States on the enforcement of sentences); and the provision of general legal advice.

Performing his or her duties under the supervision of the Legal Adviser to the ICC President, the Judicial/Legal intern will contribute to:

• Conducting in-depth legal research in administrative, human rights and public international law and other relevant areas of law, on both procedural and substantive issues, in support of the Presidency’s decisions on applications for judicial review;
• Providing support in all aspects of the enforcement of sentences and international cooperation;
• Assisting in drafting legal opinions on the interpretation of the Court's legal texts, ASP resolutions, international treaties, etc.;
• Providing support in the preparation and servicing internal meetings and committees;
• Assisting in the preparation of speeches, letters, background papers and reports for the President and the Presidency;
• Performing any other duties as assigned.

In addition to fulfilling the general eligibility requirements of the ICC internship programme, the successful candidate for the Judicial/Legal internship in the Presidency should have an academic background in law (preferably in administrative or public international law). Relevant practical experience is considered an asset.

b. Administration

With the exception of the Office of the Prosecutor, the Presidency is responsible for the proper administration of the Court and oversees the work of the Registry. Successful candidates will provide support to the Special Assistant to the President on issues relating to public administration, governance, the law of international organisations and administrative law.

Performing his or her duties under the supervision of the Special Assistant to the President, the intern will contribute to:

• Providing legal, policy and strategic advice on diverse and complex questions in relation to the Presidency's responsibility for the proper administration of the Court and ensuring the implementation of the decisions of the Presidency;
• Identifying the need for and developing new proposals for policies, projects or processes for Court-wide application, in particular in the areas of strategic planning and the overall administration of the Court, and coordinating or ensuring implementation of those policies;
• Developing and monitoring adherence to plans, schedules and agendas for the Presidency and the Coordination Council in relation to the overall administration of the Court;
• Preparing background information and speaking points ahead of the President's inter-organ meetings, researching legal issues and political developments relevant to the Court and obtaining information from other sections/organs of the Court on issues of internal governance;
• Taking notes during meetings and preparing of summaries or minutes of meetings; and
• Performing any other duties as required.

In addition to fulfilling the general eligibility requirements of the ICC internship programme, the successful candidate for the administration internship in the Presidency should have an academic background in public/business administration, law (preferably in international law / law of international organisations) or another relevant field. Relevant practical experience is considered an asset.

c. 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.

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;
• Liaising with representatives of States, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organisations and other external actors;
• Communicating with other Court organs on various external relations activities;
• Taking notes during meetings and preparing of summaries or minutes of meetings; and
• Performing any other duties as required.

In addition to fulfilling the general eligibility requirements of the ICC internship programme, the successful candidate for the external relations internship in the Presidency should have an academic background in international relations, political science, communications, international law or another relevant field and a strong interest in external relations. Relevant practical experience is considered an asset.

2. Chambers (Appeals Division, Trial Division and Pre-Trial Division)

The judicial functions of the ICC are carried out in each division (Appeals Division, Trial Division and Pre-Trial Division) by Chambers. Chambers is in charge of ensuring procedures that are both fair and expeditious. The judicial functions of Chambers involve issuing decisions or orders, whether written or oral, responding to motions filed by the parties and participants, the holding of status conferences and hearings, the analysis of evidence.

In addition, Judges in the Appeals, Trial and Pre-Trial Divisions are in charge of proposing amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Evidence and to the Elements of Crimes, as well as of adopting the Regulations of the Court and any amendments thereto.

Interns assigned to Chambers will participate in activities such as:

• Conduct of in-depth legal research and analysis of questions of international criminal law, public international law and other areas of law as appropriate, as directed by the judge and as required by the general needs of Chambers;
• Analysis of evidence as it is presented in the court proceedings;
• Provision of legal advice on the application and interpretation of the relevant rules of criminal procedure and all matters relevant to the judicial responsibilities of the judges;
• Selection and analysis of relevant international and national legal materials for references and background documents;
• Preliminary interpretation of legal instruments such as constitutions, statutes, treaties, agreements, regulations and rules, resolutions or legal materials relevant to the work of the Court;
• Preparation of legal memoranda, taking minutes; and observation of court proceedings, participation in analysis and discussions, and performance of other tasks as requested;
• Preparing summaries of submissions and of decisions;
• Cite checking and editing documents.

3. Opportunities for Visiting Professionals with the Strategic Planning Coordinator

The ICC Strategic Planning Coordinator invites applications for visiting professional(s) to work with the Court for a three to six month period on one of the following:

• The development of productivity and other performance indicators.
• The development and implementation of a mature risk management system
• Review and if needed, enhancement of the ICC’s policy framework

In addition to fulfilling the general eligibility requirements of the ICC visiting professionals programme, the successful candidate should have a degree in public administration, management, human resources, or another relevant field. Specialisation in this field and experience with international and/or (international) judicial institutions are considered an asset. Candidates should be fluent in English. Knowledge of French a plus.

The Strategic Planning Coordinator works for the court as a whole to further develop and facilitate the implementation of the ICC strategic plan. This requires a coordinated approach across the different organs and levels of the Court. The Strategic Planning Coordinator assists the responsible designated senior managers to manage these processes. In addition, the Strategic Planning Coordinator works to support the development and implementation of Court-wide planning cycles. S/he similarly supports the development of strategic plans and operations plans at organ, division or section levels that facilitate the work of the Court as a whole or are of importance to the Court generally. Included in this is support to the Court’s strategic efforts to become a model public institution respecting the public trust by achieving the desired results with a minimum of resources.

The incumbent, performing his or her duties under the supervision of and in cooperation with the Strategic Planning Coordinator, will play a key role in furthering the work of the Strategic Planning Coordinator and enabling the office to deal with a wider array of issues of concern to the Court as a whole and the individual elements that make up the Court.