International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

Internship Programme

Hamburg, 2013

Each year the InternationalTribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has approximately twentyinternships for young government officials or students of law, international relations, public relations, political science, library science and translation.

Objective

The programme is designed to give participants the opportunity to gain an understanding of the work and functions of the Tribunal and to enable the Tribunal and its members to benefit from the assistance of persons with relevant knowledge and skills in areas within the scope of activities of the Tribunal. Participants in the programme are expected to be able to contribute to the work of the Tribunal in fields such as the law of the sea, public international law (sometimes including issues of international human rights law), international organizations and international relations, political science, public information, publications and library science, and translation.

Structure of the Programme

The Tribunal’s Internship Programme is normally a full-time programme, although other arrangements are possible. Internships usually cover a period of three months, from January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December. In exceptional cases, individual internships may be extended. Under supervision, the intern carries out assignments for members of the Tribunal and the Registry.

Internships are offered in the following departments

● Legal Office: Interns are expected to carry out research on a variety of legal issues and prepare memoranda and reports for the Legal Office. Interns will be requested to conduct research on a specific topic and give an oral presentation to the Legal Office. They will work with the other interns serving at the Tribunal on the preparation of weekly press reviews.  

● Library: The Library provides research services to the Judges, Registry staff, interns, and external visitors using numerous online databases and maintaining a vast collection of books, loose leafs and journals on the law of the sea, public international law and maritime law.  Interns will assist with daily operations including but not limited to: database maintenance, assistance with research, document processing, records management, copy cataloguing, conducting bibliographic research for collection development, organizing UN Documents; collection maintenance (shelf reading, shelving, inventory).

● Linguistic Services: Since the working languages of the Tribunal are English and French, interns in Linguistic Services should have one of these languages as their mother tongue and an excellent knowledge of the other. The service has recently acquired TRADOS and therefore interns are expected to become involved with text alignment for the translation memory and the compilation of databases. Interns are also involved with document preparation, referencing and research and other related tasks as required.

● Press Office: Interns in the Press Office are involved in the daily tasks of the Press Office, drafting public relations material, compiling  press coverage reviews, assisting with the organisation of visits and events and putting together presentation material for Registry use.  

Eligibility Criteria

The following criteria are used to determine eligibility for the Internship Programme:

Applicants should:

● have completed at least three years of university studies;

● normally be engaged in a degree-granting or postgraduate programme at the time of application and also during the internship;

● normally not be more than 35 years of age;

● have a good command of English and/or French; and

● have an interest in international law, in particular international law of the sea, international affairs or international institutions and organizations.

In the selection of candidates due consideration will be given to geographical diversity and gender balance.

Application Procedure

Persons who are interested in participating in the internship programme at the Tribunal in Hamburg should submit a duly completed application form, ITLOS/INT.2. In the case of persons nominated by a government, university, other institution, law firm or organization, Part II of the form should be filled out by the relevant official of the nominating body. A résumé, with grade transcript or list of courses taken and, if available, a brief sample of research work in English or French, should accompany the application form. Applications should be sent to the Tribunal to meet the deadlines below.

Internship period

● January to March: application to be submitted by 30 September of previous year;

● April to June: application to be submitted by 31 December of previous year;

● July to September: application to be submitted by 31 March;

● October to December: application to be submitted by 30 June;

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please note that original documents should not be submitted to the Tribunal as applications are not returned.

Trust Fund for the Law of the Sea

A 'Trust Fund for the Law of the Sea' has been established in order to assist candidates from developing countries in participating in the Internship Programme and a limited amount of funding is available. In addition to the usual criteria for participation in the programme, the following criteria are used to determine eligibility for funding for the internship:

(a) applicants must be nationals of a developing country included in the OECD list and should normally be resident in that country; and

(b) applicants should be in need of financial assistance in order to help cover the travel and living costs associated with an internship in Hamburg.

Persons who are interested in applying for funding for the Tribunal's internship programme should submit this form, duly completed, together with the usual application form (ITLOS/INT.2) and a covering letter of no more than one page, which should explain why an internship at the Tribunal is important to the applicant and describe how it would fit in with the academic and career goals of the applicant and what benefits the applicant expects to gain from the programme.

Conditions of Internship

Interns are not paid. The cost of travel and accommodation, as well as living expenses, are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions, unless funding is awarded from the Trust Fund

Interns are responsible for obtaining the necessary visas and arranging their travel to and accommodation in Hamburg. An information sheet on temporary accommodation may be obtained from the Internship Coordinator. The Tribunal accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness during an internship. Interns must therefore show proof of valid regular as well as major medical insurance and provide a medical certificate stating that they are in good health. Interns must keep confidential any and all unpublished information obtained during the course of the internship and may not publish any reports or papers based on such information even after the completion of the internship, except with the explicit authorization of the Tribunal.

Certificate

Upon successful completion of the internship, interns receive a certificate. The certificate will, inter alia, state the period of internship, give examples of the allocated tasks and evaluate the intern's performance.

Contact Details

Further information may be obtained from:

The Internship Coordinator
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Am Internationalen Seegerichtshof 1
22609 Hamburg
Germany 

Tel.: (49) 40 35607-227/181
Fax: (49) 40 35607-245
Email