The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently accepting applications for its 2026/2027 Judicial Fellowship Programme. Originally launched in 1999 as the University Traineeship Programme, this initiative provides recent law graduates with valuable professional experience working at the International Court of Justice. The programme seeks to deepen participants’ practical knowledge of public international law and familiarise them with the Court’s operational procedures through hands-on involvement in its work.
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Participants in the fellowship work full-time under the guidance of a Court Member and collaborate with that Member’s principal legal assistant. Their responsibilities typically include conducting legal and factual research, preparing memorandums on matters related to ongoing cases, attending Court hearings and sessions, and completing additional tasks as assigned by their supervising judge.
The fellowship spans roughly ten months, beginning in early September and concluding in June. Typically, the Court selects approximately 15 participants from university nominations worldwide.
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Qualification Criteria
The Court prioritises selecting candidates from varied national backgrounds.
- Applicants should not be more than 31 years of age when the fellowship commences. Exceptions to this age limit are granted only under extraordinary circumstances.
- Candidates must show outstanding academic performance in legal studies and demonstrate a genuine interest in public international law through their coursework, scholarly publications, and/or professional experience.
- Candidates must possess excellent proficiency, both written and spoken, in at least one of the Court’s two official languages (English or French); competency in the other language is advantageous.
Individual applications are not accepted—only universities may submit candidate nominations. While universities may nominate a single individual, the Court prefers receiving multiple nominations from each institution.
Nomination Process
Nominating universities must complete an online preliminary questionnaire and identify an authorised focal point who will handle all submission materials.
After submitting the questionnaire, the focal point will receive a confirmation email with detailed instructions, the ICJ personal history form, and the candidate profile summary table.
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Each candidate’s application package must include the following six documents, submitted in this sequence through the university focal point’s email:
- Official university nomination letter
- ICJ personal history form
- Reference letters
- Official academic transcripts
- Writing sample
- Candidate profile summary table
Submission Deadline: February 5, 2026
Click HERE to apply.
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