International Court of Justice Judicial Fellows Programme

Applicants must be either current Michigan Law JD or LLM students who will complete their degree requirements in May, or recent Michigan Law JD or LLM graduates. “Recent” graduates is loosely defined and generally assumed to be someone who graduated within the past two years or so. However, to be eligible, candidates should be 31 years of age or younger at the time the program begins. This requirement may be waived in special circumstances.

The official languages of the Court are English and French, and participants must have excellent reading, writing and oral skills in at least one of them. A working knowledge of the second official language is an asset.

Applicants must have an excellent overall academic record and demonstrate strong research and writing skills. An excellent academic record in public international law is also expected and enrollment in at least one of the Law School’s introductory public international courses is highly encouraged. Prospective applicants should be cautioned against taking human rights courses in lieu of public international law courses as they are not equivalent for this purpose.

Applicants are also encouraged to complete a seminar or independent research project, preferably on an international law topic, and receive a grade on it before the application deadline. (If application deadline comes just before grading deadline, the Committee will consult Fall grades before finalizing nominations.)

The Court does not provide funding to selected Fellows. However,  Michigan Law will provide a generous stipend to its nominee, if he or she is chosen for the Fellows Programme.

Medical insurance, including the cost of accident or illness, is not covered by the Court. Fellows must have adequate insurance of their own, which may be purchased through the University of Michigan’s Travel Abroad Insurance. Likewise, expenses associated with travel, visas, and housing are the responsibility of each Fellow.

Completed applications include the application packet described below plus letters of recommendation. All materials should be submitted by email to Center for International and Comparative Law staff at lawinternational@umich.edu by January 20, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Late applications will not be accepted. 

Complete and timely submissions will be reviewed by a Michigan Law School selection committee for nomination to the Court. The Court then undertakes its own selection process to choose 15 Fellows from all applications it receives. The Law School committee typically nominates two applicants with the hope that one will be chosen. The Court normally announces its final selections in April.

Application packet requirements

• ICJ Judicial Fellows Programme Personal History Form
• ICJ Judicial Fellows Programme Summary Table
• Description of French proficiency, including background and experience in speaking, writing, and reading
• Resume
• Official Law School transcript, including current course enrollment. If you received or are pursuing a LLM degree, you must also submit transcripts from the institution from which you received your first law degree.
• Writing sample of 15 pages maximum that is of publishable quality or that has been submitted for publication.

Letters of recommendation

• Letters should speak to the applicant’s credentials and abilities in the field of international law
• At least one letter from a Michigan Law professor
• One or two additional letters (no more than three letters of recommendation total)
• All letters of recommendation should be sent directly from the recommenders to Center for International and Comparative Law staff (lawinternational@umich.edu) but be addressed to Jean-Pelé Fomété, Deputy-Registrar of the International Court of Justice, Peace Palace, 2517 KJ The Hague, The Netherlands
• Recommending Michigan Law professors are encouraged to include candid comments for Global Affairs Committee consideration in the body of their email to Center for International and Comparative Law staff (lawinternational@umich.edu)
• All recommendation letters should be received by January 20, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all materials are submitted by this time.

ICJ Judicial Fellows Programme Personal History Form (.docx)

ICJ Judicial Fellows Programme Summary Table (.docx)

Current Fellow

Haris Huremagić, LLM ’22

During his earlier studies at the University of Vienna, Huremagić worked as a research assistant in the university’s Department of European, Comparative and International Law from 2017 to 2019 and from 2020 to 2021. There, he conducted research-related work that included the commentaries to Article 68 of the ICJ Statute, Articles 65-75 of the ICSID-Convention, and Article 27 of the 1969 and 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Furthermore, he participated in and co-organized a conference on international procedural law at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (Cambridge, UK) in 2019.

In 2017, Huremagić participated in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C. Two years later, in 2019, he coached the University of Vienna’s team, which advanced to the final rounds (top 32) in Washington, D.C. He gained further academic experience through an exchange year at Sciences Po Paris, during which he focused on international criminal and humanitarian law. He also interned in several law firms in Vienna, including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, and in the Austrian Foreign Trade Office in Zagreb, Croatia.

Huremagić has a passion for German and South Slavic literature. During his free time, he occasionally translates literature from Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian into German. He also adores music and at times plays the French horn in several orchestras. Huremagić received training in orchestral conducting from 2010 to 2014, as well as piano and cello lessons.

Education

• University of Vienna, AB in Slavic Studies
• University of Michigan, LLM
   

Previous Fellows

• 2021-2022: Emma Macfarlane, J.D. '21
• 2019-2020: Nadia Alhadi, JD '18
• 2018-2019: Marcos Kotlik, LLM '18
• 2017-2018: Erin Collins, JD '17
• 2016-2017: Chaka Laguerre, JD '14
• 2015-2016: Rosalind Elphick, LLM '15
• 2014-2015: Ananda Burra, JD '14
• 2013-2014: Sarah St. Vincent, JD '11
• 2012-2013: Ciara Murphy, LLM '12
• 2011-2012: Uzma Burney, JD '10
• 2009-2010: Klara Polackova, LLM '09
• 2008-2009: Ted Kill, JD '07
• 2007-2008: Noam Wiener, LLM '06
• 2006-2007: Marko Milanovic, LLM '06
• 2005-2006: Jason Morgan-Foster, JD '05
• 2004-2005: Sonia Boutillon, JD '03, and Carsten Hoppe, JD '04