UK: Redress seeks volunteers

Seeking Reparation for Torture Survivors

OCTOBER 2001

REDRESS SEEKS VOLUNTEERS/PART-TIME INTERNS TO WORK ON THE FOLLOWING
PROJECTS:

1. Civil Reparation for Human Rights Violations

With a view to certain law reform initiatives including the Draft
Convention On International Jurisdiction And The Effects Of Foreign
Judgments In Civil And Commercial Matters, comparative law research into
the problems relating to bringing civil actions for human rights
violations, analysing the scope for provisional/protective measures, and
determining problems with the recognition and enforcement of judgments in
third countries.

Candidates should have some background in civil litigation and in
researching foreign law.

2. Research on Universal Jurisdiction

Collection of cases and domestic laws that regulate States' acceptance of
the principle of universal jurisdiction (the principle that a crime is so
abhorrent that every State, irrespective of where the crime was
perpetrated or the nationality of the offender or victims, has an
obligation to prosecute alleged offenders or extradite to another
jurisdiction where a prosecution will take place). Students may be asked
to concentrate on specific countries or regions, or to assist with
networking with advocates of universal jurisdiction worldwide.

Candidates should have some background in criminal law and public
international law. Students with foreign language skills and/or who are
familiar with different legal traditions would be particular useful for
this research.

3. Country Research on Reparation for Torture

REDRESS is conducting an audit of the domestic law remedies that exist in
different countries and regions of the world for victims of
torture. Students would concentrate on specific countries or regions.

Candidates should ideally have some background in foreign legal
traditions.

4. Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court

REDRESS has been active in the ICC PrepCom process since the outset, on
the specific issue of reparations for victims and participations of
victims in proceedings. While the Statute has been adopted and the draft
regulations and rules have been finalised, further work is being
undertaken on subsidiary agreements (privileges and immunities, financial
regulations and rules) and on the preparations for the establishment of
the Court. Volunteers/Part-time Interns are sought to assist with
background research and assistance with the preparation of lobby
materials.

Candidates should have advanced research skills and sound understanding of
public international law.

5. REDRESS' casework programme

Volunteers/part-time interns are sought to assist REDRESS with its
casework programme. Students would be assigned specific tasks in relation
to ongoing cases which might involve research into domestic avenues of
reparation, research of caselaw before the Inter-American or European
human rights systems, UN treaty bodies, etc. Students might equally be
asked to assist in preparing witness statements or other materials to be
presented to police or prosecutors, and may assist in the drafting of
pleadings or legal memoranda.

--__________________________________________________________________

For students based outside of London, flexible arrangements with respect
to methods of work and communication with REDRESS can be
arranged. Students interested in any of the above opportunities should
respond by post, fax, or email to:

Carla Ferstman
Legal Director, REDRESS
4 Deans Court, St. Paul's Churchyard,
London, EC4V 5AA
email: [email protected]

Please provide a full CV and contact details, together with an indication
of:

1. which project(s) you are interested in
2. availability (ie: x hours per week)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN REDRESS!