23867| Detention Center

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

This position is funded by the Trust Fund for the Development of Interns and Visiting Professionals, thanks to the generous contributions of donors such as the French Republic, as well as elected officials and staff of the ICC.

In order to be eligible for this funded position, all applicants must be nationals from Francophone countries that appear on the United Nations Statistics Division’s list of developing regions that are a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, namely:

Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, Vanuatu.

Some ICC States Parties are currently (as at 31 January 2025) not represented, or under-represented, and we therefore strongly encourage nationals from the following States Parties to apply:

Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Comoros, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Seychelles, Vanuatu.

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).

Funding
This position is funded through the Trust Fund for the development of interns and visiting professionals, whereby the Court will provide the selected candidate a monthly remuneration of €1,125 (with a mandatory deduction for emergency health insurance) as well as some financial help for travel purposes for candidates who are not based in the Netherlands at the time of the recruitment. Please note that (i) costs associated with Visas are the responsibility of the selected candidate, (ii) due to the nature of the assignment, interns cannot bring their families with them.

Contract Duration

Interns are required to work full time for a period of six months (to be agreed to prior to commencement).

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 Chief Custody Officer (CCO) is responsible for the Detention Centre and the Detention Section of the International Criminal Court. The Detention Section is responsible for providing safe, secure and humane conditions for persons who are detained by the Court whilst they are awaiting trial or pending appeal.

The Detention Section’s overall objective is to ensure a physically safe and mentally healthy environment for detained persons at every stage of detention, from their initial transfer to the Court until they are either released on the Court’s order or transferred to a State of enforcement to serve a sentence. The internship will take place primarily at the Detention Centre with occasional working days at the Court.

The main activities of the Detention Section are therefore related to:

• The administration of the Detention Centre and the fundamental rights of the detainees;
• The support and management of documents filed before the Chambers;
• Liaising with and responding to enquiries from the International Committee of the Red Cross;
• The support and management of documents submitted to the Detention Section at the hearings;
• Liaising with and responding to enquiries from other sections within the Court.

Duties and Responsibilities

Interns providing services in the Detention Section would be required to perform the following duties:

• Conduct legal research on behalf of the CCO on all matters related to the mandate of the Detention Section;
• Provide support to relevant sections of the Division/Registry on projects related to the mandate of the Detention Section;
• Follow all the cases before the Court which are related to the Detention Section;
• Provide summaries of important filings and where required, an in-depth analysis of relevant decisions;
• Assist in drafting correspondence;
• Providing support in the management and supervision of all activities undertaken by the Section;
• Assist in drafting memoranda on behalf of the CCO;
• Assist with managing the Detention Section’s various database; and
• Provide administrative assistance on any other task that may be assigned to the Intern by the CCO.
• In order to complete these services access will be granted to the Court’s own library as well as its wide range of legal databases.

Essential Qualifications

Education:

All candidates must have a degree or be in the final stages of their studies at a recognized university in the area of law, international relations or other relevant field. 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 therefore; 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:

• Maintains a service-orientated attitude at all times.
• Has a genuine interest in international law, particularly international criminal law, and legal research.
• 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 either of the working languages of the Court (French or English) is required. Knowledge of another official language of the Court (Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish) is an asset.