Through the GJF program, Law School students have worked around the world on issues ranging from women’s rights, to rule of law development, to criminal law reform and international prosecution of human rights violations. Recent Fellowship sites include Argentina, Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Namibia, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Tanzania, The Hague, Uganda, and Venezuela.

Internship organizations can include entities that promote human rights, the rule of law, and economic, social, and cultural rights, including:

• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
• Regional inter-governmental bodies, including the United Nations;
• Government offices involved directly in the provision of human rights services;
• Select international courts including International Criminal Court (ICC), International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and Inter-American Court of Human Rights;
• Advocacy groups;
• Social movement work.

If you are seeking information on international internships in the private sector, please visit our page on the Global Legal Practice Fellowship.

Law School students have participated in placements at many other international organizations:

• Assyrian Aid Society (Iraq)
• American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (China, Morocco, Tajikistan)
• Black Sheep (Uruguay)
• Center of Justice and International Law (Argentina)
• Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (China)
• Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (Mexico)
• Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (India)
• Covenants Watch (Taiwan)
• Dui Hua Foundation (Hong Kong)
• Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law
• Human Rights Commission (Colombia)
• International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (The Netherlands)
• International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (Tanzania)
• International Development Law Organization (Italy)
• International Refugee Rights Initiative (Uganda)
• Lawyers for Human Rights (South Africa)
• Lawyers Collective (India)
• Legal Aid of Cambodia
• Legal Assistance Center (Namibia)
• Mekong Region Law Center (Thailand)
• Natural Justice (South Africa)
• Reprieve (UK)
• Rights Watch (UK)
• United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Switzerland)
• World Trade Organization (Switzerland)

This Fellowship application is open to any 1L or 2L currently enrolled at the Law School. The committee will select up to 12 Fellows each summer.

Students source their own placements and apply directly to the organization(s) with which they wish to work. Additional information, including a list of past Global Justice Fellowship placements, is available on the International Careers page. The Office of Career Strategy (OCS) can advise, but does not coordinate applications for GJF placements.

Applications for Summer 2023 must be submitted to Symplicity by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 14. In terms of a timeline, students must apply to employers before submitting a GJF Fellowship application. They are not required to have an offer at the time of application, however.

Application materials include:

• 2-5 page Statement of Interest/Intent
• Resume
• Uniform Funding Application

For details, download the Global Justice Fellowship Application guide (PDF)

There are two stages to the application process. During the first stage, a committee reviews each application and may elect to interview students. Successful candidates are then selected provisionally into the program, pending success in finding an appropriate placement.

Once a placement has been approved, Fellows attend training sessions that prepare them to work on global justice issues and to manage the challenges of living and working abroad.

For more information on the Global Justice Fellowship, contact Caroline Ruhle, Associate Director for LL.M. Counseling and International Sector Careers