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 Prevention Project. The Human Rights, Prevention, and Sustainable Peace Project (the Prevention Project) which seeks to transform prevention practices through research, conceptual clarification, and integration of knowledge and expertise. The project engages diverse stakeholders to develop a comprehensive prevention framework of evidence-based approaches and initiatives with proven preventive potential.

Senior Fellow and 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 leads the Transitional Justice Program. Currently, Professor de Greiff is leading the development of a framework to prevent grave human rights violations through the Preventions Project.

Program Components

• The classroom component of the program is Transitional Justice, a spring 2023 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 and are required to take the course.[1]
• 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 are also required to write a minimum of one post per semester for CHRGJ’s blog. Writing in a blog format will help students develop the skills necessary to communicate complex topics to a lay audience.
• Scholars receive guidance in obtaining academic-year internships and research opportunities with human rights organizations, such as the International Center for Transitional Justice. Those interested in working directly with Professor de Greiff may have the opportunity to provide research assistance for academic credit and benefit from practical engagement on the Preventions Project.
• 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.

Application Instructions

The Transitional Justice Leadership Program will commence in fall 2022 and continue through the academic year. All interested LLM students are encouraged to apply. Applications are due by noon on Monday August 15, 2022. Selected candidates will be notified no later than early-September 2022 and the program schedule will be confirmed at this time.

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 Lauren Stackpoole, CHRGJ Director of Operations and Academic Programs, [lauren.stackpoole@nyu.edu], with the subject line “Transitional Justice Leadership Program Application 2022-23.”

[1] 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.