Each year, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) selects a small number of incoming NYU Law LLM students to take part in the Transitional Justice Leadership Program. Developed in consultation with prominent figures in the transitional justice field, the program provides an opportunity for LLM students to engage through coursework, scholarship, and internships with CHRGJ’s Transitional Justice Project, which brings together teaching, documentation, research, and convenings on topics such as criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, institutional reform, and reparations programs in countries undergoing a transition to democracy in the aftermath of conflict or of authoritarianism. The Transitional Justice Project is led by Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor Pablo de Greiff, who served as UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence from May 2012 through May 2018.

Program Components

• The classroom component of the program is Transitional Justice, a fall 2020 course taught by Professor de Greiff. The course offers insight into the legal, moral, and political questions governments and civil society must confront as they seek to come to terms with a legacy of human rights violations. Students admitted to the leadership program are guaranteed enrollment in this course and are required to take it.[i]
• Transitional Justice Scholars will take part in monthly meetings organized by CHRGJ. These will take the form of discussions with experts and writing workshops, as well as other activities identified in collaboration with Scholars.
• Scholarship is vital to preparing students for careers in transitional justice, so Scholars are expected to develop original works of legal scholarship to submit to the annual International Law and Human Rights Emerging Scholarship Conference, a forum that provides students with the unique opportunity to receive detailed feedback from experts and peers in order to prepare work of publishable quality. CHRGJ faculty and staff will be available to offer guidance with these projects.
• Scholars receive guidance in obtaining academic-year internships and research opportunities with human rights organizations, such as the International Center for Transitional Justice and CHRGJ itself, as part of its companion Human Rights Student Scholars program that includes at least one paid Research Assistant position to work directly with Pablo de Greiff on his Transitional Justice-related work. As Scholars look to their time after the LLM program, CHRGJ offers guidance on seeking internships in a variety of transitional justice institutions, such as truth commissions, courts, reparations programs, and local human rights organizations in countries throughout the world. Funding from NYU to pursue these opportunities is available through competitive application to the International Law and Human Rights Student Fellowship Program.

[i] Students not selected for the program may still register for the course through the normal registration process; however, as with all NYU Law courses, enrollment for those outside the program is not guaranteed.

Application Instructions

Applications are due by Monday, August 19. Selected candidates will be notified by Monday, August 26.

To apply, please submit:

1. Cover letter detailing your interest in the program, including relevant background or experience where applicable
2. CV
3. Relevant writing sample

These should be combined into a single PDF attachment in the above order and e-mailed to CHRGJ Program Manager Lauren Stackpoole [lauren.stackpoole@nyu.edu], with the subject line “Transitional Justice Leadership Program Application 2019-2020.”

Additional Information

Additional information is available on the Transitional Justice Leadership Program Page.