Fall 2006 Staff and Dean's Fellows of the War Crimes Research Office |
Getting Involved at the WCRO
Listing of Current Opportunities (updated regularly)
Dean's Fellows | Student Volunteers | Other Student Opportunities | University of Ottawa Exchange | Other Opportunities
The WCRO supports numerous opportunities for students and other volunteers to work toward the successful development of public international law. Some opportunities require demonstrated interest or experience in issues of international justice; others present an excellent opportunity for people new to the field to become involved. Anyone interested in opportunities listed below should contact the WCRO Staff Assistant at warcrimes@wcl.american.edu. Check the space at right and the Docket newsletter as well for updated opportunities throughout the year.
Each year, WCL makes available dozens of Dean’s Fellowships, which offer certain J.D. and LL.M students the opportunity to work with selected faculty members, administrative offices and programs. Every semester, the WCRO hires several Dean’s Fellows to assist with its projects, including legal research, the summer program in The Hague and other scholarly initiatives.
ICTY Status Updates team members Mark, BP and Angela at the WCRO in 2006 |
Student Volunteers
Volunteer positions at the WCRO offer students exposure to the field of international criminal justice and the opportunity to contribute to the WCRO's public work. Interested students are encouraged to contact the Staff Assistant with particular interests at the beginning of the semester. The WCRO maintains a database of all volunteers; for less regular assignments (e.g. temporary research assistance or spading), the WCRO will put out an e-mail notification to eligible volunteers.
Status Updates
The WCRO posts to its website regular chronologies of happenings in international courts and tribunals. Status Updates teams of students are responsible for monitoring the activities of these tribunals, summarizing their findings and reporting them to the WCRO. Teams meet with the WCRO Assistant Director and Staff Assistant every other week to discuss developments in the field. Status Updates are monitored mostly on volunteers' own time, but benefit from collaboration and guidance, making this a good opportunity for 1Ls and others who want to learn more about international criminal justice. In recent years, teams monitored the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, International Criminal Court, Special Court for Sierra Leone, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Database Project
The WCRO maintains a searchable database of jurisprudence from the ICTY, ICTR, SCSL and ICC. This database is periodically updated and made available to court personnel, non-governmental organizations and others in digital form through our website. On occasion, the WCRO recruits new volunteers to monitor court jurisprudence and update the database for publication to digital media.
Research Volunteers
The WCRO maintains a list of law students interested in assisting our Dean's Fellows and Assistant Director with various types of research and spading help on an as-needed basis. Students who wish to assist in spading should have Blue Book knowledge, or at least previous experience in research or editing.
International Student Resource Panel
International students or those who have legal experience in countries other than the U.S. are encouraged to sign up for the WCRO's International Student Resource Panel. The WCRO maintains this list as a resource of people willing to contribute time to projects with a comparative law element.
Students interested in the field of international justice might wish to take part in moot court competitions through the WCRO.
University of Ottawa Exchange Program
Each year one University of Ottawa law student is selected to spend the university’s January academic term in Washington, D.C., gaining practical experience in international criminal law by conducting, under WCRO supervision, intensive research and writing on legal research projects for WCRO client institutions. See here for more information.
The WCRO occasionally has consulting or pro bono legal research opportunities available. Please e-mail the WCRO Staff Assistant at warcrimes@wcl.american.edu with a resume or c.v. if interested.
