Week Four: IBJ's Running Club, France, and the International Criminal Court
Hello again from Geneva!
This week has been yet another fantastic look into the intricacies of legal work in the context of international NGOs. I continued to work on constructing a new country program for International Bridges to Justice in Armenia this week, and it’s an immense process. We’ve been hard at work trying to build partnerships with local groups in Armenia, and this week I got in contact with the Ministry of Internal Affairs! I’m excited to see where the project goes! In addition to Armenia, I helped out another IBJ intern team on a grant proposal for Tunisia this week, which is due next week. These grant proposals are truly all hands on deck, but I can’t wait to see the amazing work IBJ is able to accomplish once they (hopefully!) receive this funding.
On top of the Armenia project, the legal interns at IBJ have been working on a legal research project to understand the intricacies of choice of law and universal jurisdiction in international criminal law. More specifically, we’ve been studying how the ICC can preemptively help to build capacity in developing legal systems around the world so that when the worst-case scenario happens, states can independently and authentically try cases domestically without the need for international interference. While much of this project is self-directed, I had the opportunity this week to get advice from an amazing source – Michael Karnavas, an international criminal defense attorney at the International Criminal Court. Karnavas was kind enough to take time out of his day to speak with a few legal interns about his experience working in international law and the importance of having qualified and committed defense attorneys at every level of the criminal justice process to ensure the legitimacy of criminal trials. It was a fantastic opportunity to speak with someone with such a wealth of experience in international law, and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to speak with such committed lawyers.
Outside of work this week, I have had an absolutely amazing time settling into Geneva and exploring my city for the summer! This week, the IBJ interns started a running club, and we all went for a 30 minute run together after our work for the day ended. It’s been so much fun getting to know other young adults who are committed to international law and are also just genuinely so much fun to be around. After our run, we went to the restaurant that has quickly emerged as our regular haunt – Al Amir. It’s an adorable Lebanese restaurant around the corner from IBJ, and the owners give us free falafel every time we go!
This week, we also spent a copious amount of time at the local beach in Geneva, Bains des Pâquis. We were able to get season passes for this adorable beach on Lake Geneva, and it’s truly at the end of the street that IBJ’s office is on. The Bains des Pâquis has quickly become our favorite spot to frequent during our lunch breaks, and it’s a fantastic spot to grab a bite if you’re willing to defend your food from swans. Laura and I have been hard at work striving to accomplish our shared personal goal for the summer: learning how to skip rocks. My current personal record is around five skips with one rock, and I’m afraid that will be hard to beat the rest of the summer.
I finished this week venturing to an entirely new country for an evening – France! I have never been to France, but one of my friends from IBJ, Kejsi, has an apartment across the border. I ventured to her home Friday night to have a wine and charcuterie night with the intern crew. It was just a quick trip across the border, but I’d love to explore the country more in the coming weeks! Finally, on Saturday, we took a train to Versoix, Switzerland to another friend’s home where we watched the Switzerland/Italy Euro match and went swimming in the Versoix river! It was such a fun night and we all cooked dinner together, and the icing on the cake was that Switzerland beat Italy 2-0!
I can’t wait to see what the next week has in store, and I’ll keep you all updated on all of the adventures us IBJ interns have in Geneva (and perhaps abroad) this summer!
Kristen