Internships and Externships

The School of Law provides funding to students for established internships with outstanding organizations in Cambodia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. (See description below.)   A competitive selection process ensures each internship position is awarded to an exceptional law student.  Students may also pursue internships in other places and organizations, although funding for these is not guaranteed.

Before and after the South Africa summer program, students have engaged in internships and externships in South Africa and other parts of Africa.  Students have interned at Legal Aid Board, Lawyers for Human Rights, and the Forced Migration Studies Programme in Johannesburg.  In addition, during each of the last four years, SU law students have served as judicial interns in Uganda both in Kampala, the capital, and in smaller towns, observing court proceedings in the magistrate and high courts and assisting the judges and magistrates by reviewing case files, doing legal research, and preparing the first draft of opinions.  Students have recently  interned at the Uganda Human Rights Commission and with the Office of Ombudsman in Gaborone, Botswana, which is the government agency charged with investigating and fighting government corruption and fraud.

The Externship Program may have part-time positions available in various countries in the summer and has full-time international externships available for spring and fall semesters in both The Hague and Geneva. For all the full-time positions, though, you must have completed 60 credits and be in the top 50 percent of your class. For more information, visit the International Externship page.

Cambodia

Since 2003, the School of Law has a dedicated space for an SU law student to intern at the Documentation Center of Cambodia, DC-Cam. Created in 1995 by a group of scholars at Yale University, DC-Cam is an independent Cambodian NGO dedicated to ensuring memory and justice in Cambodia with respect to the abuses of the infamous Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime. In part as a result of their work, the United Nations and Government of Cambodia have created the Khmer Rouge Tribunal to prosecute certain former DK officials. With financial support from Congress, the DC-Cam continues to play a crucial role in the proceedings, acting as a resource for prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the general public. 

Every year,  each summer associate is tasked to prepare an independent article related to the tribunal proceedings and the quest for justice and reconciliation in Cambodia.  An article written by an SU intern was published in DC-Cam's "Truth Magazine."  View reports written by interns from the  2008,  2009, and 2010 programs.

Summer associates work with DC-Cam in connection with the ongoing prosecutions which started in 2008 and conduct work related to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), set up in 2006 to try senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge. This internship position comes with a stipend. Interested SU students should e-mail their resume, a 500-word statement of interest, an unofficial transcript and contact information for three references to Junsen Ohno at ohnoj@seattleu.edu.

**Due to a recent staff change at DC-Cam in Cambodia, the nature of the internship and required application materials have changed.  The experience is now a research project that you would create and carry out at DC-CAM under your own initiative.  So this will require a very self-motivated applicant who is interested in conducting an independent research project on human rights or international criminal law in Cambodia. 

If you are interested in this new opportunity, please submit a 4-6 page (double-spaced) research proposal.  The ultimate goal would be to write a 20-30 page paper, ideally of publishable quality.  The proposal would detail a research project that you plan to implement, taking advantage of the resources and expertise of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.  Please study the Center closely as you prepare your proposal http://www.dccam.org.   The proposal is due Feb 15 with an interview to follow.  If your application is successful, your research will be supervised by an SU law professor.

Costa Rica

In 2010, a new summer internship with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has been established.  The Inter-American Court is the highest human rights tribunal in the hemisphere, with jurisdiction over states from Argentina to Venezuela; a total of 21 nations.

Distinguished law students from throughout the Americas and Europe participate in the Court's internship program.  Interns are assigned to the Court's legal department.  The work consists of:
     1.  Researching international human rights case law, principles and novel issues;
     2.  Monitoring case developments; and
     3.  Drafting memoranda, court orders, and sections of judgments. 
In addition, interns frequently provide logistical and administrative assistance.  Please visit the Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos website for more information.

This internship comes with a $5,000 stipend.  Requirements for application are:

• Spanish and/or Portuguese proficiency - at minimum, speaking and reading
• Three-month summer commitment
• Applicants should e-mail resume, one-page statement of interest, unofficial transcript, and contact information for three references to Junsen Ohno at ohnoj@seattleu.edu by 
  Wednesday, February 15, 2012.

**Due to some confusion about internship requirement, the deadline has been extended to February 15, 2012. 

The selection committee will schedule an interview with the finalists soon after the application deadline.

Nicaragua

Since 2001, Seattle University has been creating ties to the Universidad CentroAmericana (UCA), the Jesuit university in Managua. The UCA law school houses the pre-eminent law clinic in Central America.In the summer of 2003, a pilot project was created in which two SU law students worked alongside Nicaraguan law students in the UCA law clinic on criminal, civil, labor and/or human rights cases.The pilot was a success and the law school has been sending students since. This program is supported by the dean and the Center for Global Justice through Public Interest Law Foundation grants. Credit is not available for this project.Students who are reasonably fluent in Spanish, not committed during the summer months, and are able to adapt to Third-World conditions are encouraged to apply.

Applicants should e-mail resume, one-page statement of interest, unofficial transcript, and contact information for three references to Junsen Ohno at ohnoj@seattleu.edu by
Wednesday, February 15, 2012.  For more information about this internship opportunity, visit this link -  2012 Summer Opportunity To Do Social Justice in Nicaragua.

**Due to some confusion about internship requirement, the deadline has been extended to February 15, 2012.