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Organisational Unit:: Office of Public Counsel for Defence, Registry

Duty Station:: The Hague – NL

Contract Duration:: 6 months

Deadline for Applications:: 31 December 2026 (midnight the Hague time)

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

Please note that the purpose of this vacancy announcement is to provide hiring managers with a list of suitable candidates from which they may make a selection throughout the year. To this end, candidates are required to specify their availability in the relevant field when applying.

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).
• One reference letter.
• Scanned copies of university degrees and/or diplomas (to be added at the essay upload box).

Contract Duration

Visiting professionals are required to work full time for a period between (minimum) three and six months (to be agreed to prior to commencement). Visiting professional placements shall not be extended beyond six months.

The starting date of the placement may vary, upon agreement. Candidates can be recruited for a time period shorter than 6 months. Applications of candidates indicating availability beyond the present selection cycle may be considered in the context of the next selection cycle.

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 crime of aggression. The Court is participating in the global fight to end impunity, and through the 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 Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD) is an independent Office of the Court that is dedicated to the work of the Defence. Established pursuant to Regulation 77 of the Regulations of the Court, the OPCD endeavours to promote, represent and protect the Defence, raising the profile of Defence issues. In the day-to-day, the OPCD follows all cases to create a collective Defence memory and resource centre — to learn from the experiences of the individual ICC Defence teams and provide legal resources, research and advice as requested by them. The Counsel of the OPCD also remains available to be called upon by the Chambers to represent a suspect/defendant in proceedings or provide opinion on specific questions of law. In performing their tasks, members of the Office act independently and are bound by the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel.

Duties and Responsibilities

Typical duties and responsibilities of visiting professionals are:

1. Conduct research on a wide range of complex legal issues;
2. Draft memoranda, summaries, legal notes, and meeting minutes;
3. Follow proceedings to assist with team assistance;
4. Participate in internal meetings of the Court and presentations to external groups.

Required Qualifications

Education:

All Candidates must have an advanced degree in law (L.L.M. or J.D.) from a recognised university having undertaken coursework in international/national criminal law, comparative law and criminology, public international law, international humanitarian law and/or human rights. Candidates are expected to have a very good record of academic performance.

Experience:

Visiting Professional placements focus on candidates who have extensive experience in their professional careers in relevant fields of work. Practical experience that is relevant to the work of the Court may be considered an asset. Candidates for a Visiting Professional placement must have at least 3 (three) years of relevant professional experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to adapt to multicultural and multilingual working environment.
• Strong teamwork skills (listens, consults and communicates proactively) with equal ability to work independently.
• Good research and drafting skills.
• High standard of computer skills (including Microsoft Office applications and electronic databases).

Knowledge of Languages:

Proficiency in one of the working languages of the Court, French or English, is required. Working knowledge of the other is desirable. Knowledge of another official language of the Court (Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish) is an asset.

Other criteria:

It is the Court’s objective to have diversity and gender balance. And in line with the ICC’s efforts to improve geographical representation among staff, nationals of non-represented and under-represented countries at the ICC are encouraged to apply. The list can be found here.

Remuneration

Please note that internship and visiting professional placements at the ICC are unfunded. The ICC is not able to provide participants in the Internship and Visiting Professional Programme with any remuneration, nor is it possible to provide reimbursement for expenses incurred prior, during or after the internship or visiting professional placement.

Applicants must therefore be able to support themselves for the entire duration of their internship or visiting professional placement.