How to get a job in Chambers at the ICTR
That said, there are also ALOs here who have no experience at international tribunals/courts, so it’s definitely not determinative. A lot of the ALOs here have previously done an internship at the Tribunal. Beyond those relatively simple requirements, the ALOs I’ve met have had a variety of different backgrounds here at the ICTR. Also, I have no idea how relevant these are for any institution apart from the ICTR. The Associate Legal Officer (ALO) is the general entry point into Chambers at the ICTR. Not to mention being forced to work to real world deadlines and being forced to develop your people skills. Not only is it required for certain legal job opportunities at the ICTR, but it means that you “really are a lawyer” when applying for jobs, even if the job ads don’t specifically mention admission. Post-grad study recommended. Corporate experience is great. From what I can gather here are a few tips on paid employment in Chambers at the ICTR:
Internships help. I’m not sure what the crossover rate is from the ICTY, but doing a good job on an internship at the ICTR can open lots of doors to people and opportunities for paid work. And don’t forget, with the two ad hoc closing “in the near future…” jobs are hypothetically going to get a lot scarcer with more competition. While its definitely not a requirement to getting a job, it seems that most ALOs, and more senior staff, have either already done some post-graduate study or are planning to soon. These tips are purely based on my personal observations, so let me know in the comments if I’m totally off-base or have missed out on a crucial piece of advice. So no need to ’sculpt’ your CV to make it look “anti-corporate”. Get admitted. So in many ways, study and work at the ICTR are a natural mix. Corporate law gives you valuable training and experience in dealing with “the law”, even if its not substantive international criminal law. And it’ll make your life a lot easier if you get it done sooner rather than later. Some are UN employees fresh from non-legal work in other UN agencies, others are doing post-graduate study and quite a few are ex-corporate (or taking a sabbatical from their firm). International criminal law is one of those areas where post-graduate study is definitely “strongly recommended” as it develops your substantive knowledge of an area of law and you can significantly contribute to the existing scholarship based on your experience of working in the law. It is described as a “P-2″ position by the United Nations requires you to be admitted to practice, have two years of experience and a law degree. While at university we can often create a stark divide between “corporate law” and the “non-private sector”, but in Chambers plenty of the ALOs have come from corporate jobs, in areas like IP, dispute resolution or banking, and some are even going straight back to their corporate jobs when they finish here. One thing that is clear is the importance of being admitted in some domestic jurisdiction.
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