Name of the Event: Judicial Fellowship Programme
Date: September 2025 - June 2026
Place: International Court of Justice
Working language: English or French
Last Date of Application: 5 February 2025
Link to Apply:
The Judicial Fellowship Programme, formerly known as the University Traineeship Programme, was established in 1999 to enable recent law graduates to gain professional experience by working for the International Court of Justice. The programme aims to improve participants’ understanding of public international law in practice and the Court’s procedures by directly involving them in the activities of the Court.
Judicial Fellows work on a full-time basis under the supervision of a Member of the Court, alongside the Member’s primary legal assistant. Fellows can expect to conduct research and draft memorandums on questions of law or fact relating to cases pending before the Court, attend hearings and sittings, and perform any other duties that may be assigned to them by their respective judges.
The duration of the fellowship is approximately ten months, from early September to June of the following year. The Court generally selects 15 participants nominated by universities across the world.
Eligibility criteria and selection of candidates:
In making its selection, the Court seeks candidates of diverse nationalities.
To be eligible, candidates should be 31 years old or younger at the start of their fellowship. This requirement may be waived only in special circumstances.
Candidates must demonstrate excellent results in their legal studies, and an interest in public international law through their studies, publications and/or work experience.
Candidates must have an excellent command, both written and oral, of at least one of the two official languages of the Court (English and French); a working knowledge of the other language is considered an asset.
Only universities can nominate candidates. The Court does not accept applications from individuals.
How to nominate candidates:
An online pre-screening questionnaire must be completed by the nominating university, which must also designate an authorized focal point through whom all application materials will be submitted.
Following completion of the questionnaire, the focal point will receive a confirmation email containing further application instructions, the ICJ personal history form and the candidate profile summary table.
The following six documents must be submitted for each candidate via the email address of the university’s focal point, in the order below:
Official letter of nomination from the university
ICJ personal history form
Letters of reference
Official academic records
Writing sample
Candidate profile summary table
What does the Trust Fund award cover and how is it distributed?
The award consists of a monthly stipend and will cover living expenses in The Hague, and travel and health insurance costs. The stipend will enable Fellows to participate fully in the Programme without the burden of financial hardship.
The stipend will be disbursed monthly directly to the selected candidate by the Secretariat of the United Nations.
We are not the official organisers of the program. If you have any queries regarding it, kindly contact the organisers.
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