Batura, Justine

English

<intR>²Dok

Editorial #10: On Equal Access to theInternational Legal ProfessionJustine Batura 2021-10-04T10:26:48The interns’ room at Palais Wilson, hosting most of the UN’s human rights activities,is a pleasant room with a gorgeous view of Lake Geneva. In contrast, the entrydoor is plastered with rather cynical quotes calling out the unpaid nature of the workthat interns carry out here. Fully readable from the walkway is also the wording ofArticle 7 ICESCR, which declares fair remuneration a human right. As an aspiringinternational lawyer from a rich country with multiple funding options (thank you,DAAD!), the current situation has left me with a feeling of rage and injustice.So, while many of the younger readers of this blog are just returning from theirsummer internships, I would like to take this opportunity to call out once again howunremunerated work of young graduates exacerbates inequalities in the internationallegal profession.Still to date, international organisations and international courts and tribunals heavilyrely on the work force of interns – but mostly do not pay their labour. Consequently,only those who are fortunate enough to have sufficient private or public funds canput their knowledge into practice and shape the institutions with their input. Notsurprisingly, this excludes disproportionately graduates from the Global Southsince funding is often tied to the applicants’ academic institution or country oforigin. Thereby, the incoming interns – and given internships’ boosting effect, futureemployees – are overrepresenting privileged backgrounds, exacerbating the existingaccessibility gap in the profession. It is not a secret that the professional field ofinternational law has a serious problem of representation: The oral proceedingsbefore the ICJ are monopolized by male professors from developed countriesand Western States are significantly overrepresented among the UN Secretariatstaff. Certainly, the budgetary problems of international institutions are real; yetthe decision not to pay interns is a matter of priorities. Barring access to younggraduates who lack financial resources is exacerbating the dispersion of internationallaw and can simply not be justified.Oh, and dear supervisors, dear colleagues, dear academics relying on free student’sresearch – please don’t hide behind your organisation or the tight budget of yourproject. If it’s not in your hands to pay assistants, then make sure that the experienceof those who managed to reach your institution is meaningful, educational andempowering. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because youare also benefitting from their innovative approaches, their enthusiast ideas andtheir knowledge of the current scholarly discourse. And soon enough these younggraduates will be your colleagues, helping you to tackle your workload. Train thenext generation as you were trained – or even better, be the mentor that you wishedfor! This is even more crucial when it comes to persons who lack access to financialor cultural capital and have – against all odds and likelihood – managed to reachyour institution.  Respectfully offer advice to people who have not been told it’s okay- 1 -to ask, make assistants who have supported your research visible, take the time togive productive feedback. And, given the light breeze of change blowing throughinternational institutions, solidarise with the interns in their struggle!Now, let me briefly introduce you to the variety of posts that Völkerrechtsblog hadon its program in the rather calm month of September. The month started with ourVölkerrechtspodcast (in German), in which our editors talked with Dr. Anne Dieneltabout the protection of the environment in armed conflicts. Similarly concerned aboutthe environment, international lawyers around the globe have issued a powerfulpledge, calling for climate action by lawyers. In view of the Taliban’s seizure of powerin Afghanistan, Lukas Kleinert provided the legal background to the recognition ofgovernments, while Sissy Katsoni examined the declarations of some Europeangovernments intending to limit the entry of prospective asylum-seekers. Focusing oncurrent developments, Lisa M. Cohen reviewed the classification of offensive cybercapabilities in international humanitarian law and Johannes Tropper presented therecent CJUE judgment Komstroy. Against the backdrop of the relations betweenRussia and Ukraine, Lucia Leontiev and Punsara Amarasinghe reflected on therole of history in shaping the present international legal order. Informed by a recentworkshop at the Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law of theCouncil of Europe, Sabrina Schäfer and Florian Held took a closer look at the much-used instrument non-legally binding arrangements in international law. And last butnot least, Hendrik Simon introduced our new interview series ‘International Law andthe Political’, kicking off with an interview with Prof. Anne Peters.Our September posts covered a wide range of topics. In October, a bouquet ofthought-provoking topics awaits you as usual, and I look forward to your engagementwith them. I wish you some stimulating reads and a wonderful month of October!- 2 -

Editorial #10: On Equal Access to the International Legal Profession

https://intr2dok.vifa-recht.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/mir_derivate_00011074/Editorial_10_On_Equal_Access_to_the_International_Legal_Profession.pdf

Editorial #10: On Equal Access to the International Legal Profession

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

<intR>²Dok