Master student or exchange student and interested in migration law?
The Migration Law Clinic is looking for talented students who are interested to participate in the Clinic starting from December 2023.
The Clinic is open to master students in law or criminology and exchange students of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and other universities in the Netherlands.
Master students of the VU specialisation International Migration and Refugee Law will have preference over other students.
Students are selected on the basis of the following criteria:
- Motivation to participate in the Clinic;
- Interest in or affinity with migration law and/or European law / human rights, which should be demonstrated by elective courses or ancillary activities. Knowledge of migration law is an advantage, but not necessary;
- Good study results demonstrated by a list of grades;
- Good writing and research skills which should be demonstrated by papers/assignments/thesis; and
- Good English reading and writing skills demonstrated by papers/assignments/thesis written in English and/or the application letter.
- Whether the Clinic fits into the curriculum;
- Availability on Tuesday afternoons and during at least one semester: availability during two semesters is an asset;
To apply, students need to send a letter stating their motivation, CV, list of grades and a written paper, assignment or article in English to the course coordinators, Younous Arbaoui and Fadi Fahad (migrationlawclinic@vu.nl) before 20 november 2023.
If you do not have a written paper, assignment or article in English, you can write a comment to a judgment of the ECtHR or CJEU about migration law of your choice (max 1-2 pages).
EU Citizen Rights Corner
As of February 2023, the VU Migration Law Clinic has expanded to include the EU Citizen Rights Corner. For the past ten years, the Clinic has provided high-quality and independent legal advice on complex issues in the field of European migration law to external clients such as (practicing) lawyers and non-governmental organisations, including third party interventions and expert opinions for cases pending before the ECtHR and the CJEU.
The EU Citizen Rights Corner is pilot project specifically focused on giving case-by-case legal advice to organisations working with EU citizens. This is a special call for students to send in their applications to join this clinic.
The EU Citizen Rights Corner
The EU Citizen Rights Corner provides advice and advocacy support to organisations who are working with EU citizens and their (former) family members on such questions as access to social benefits and public services. In other words, the corner does not provide advice directly to clients. Instead, it provides so-called ‘second-tier’ advice to organisations as diverse as charitable organisations, legal advocacy groups, homelessness organisations, social councillors (sociaal raadslieden) or national/local members of parliament, who are faced with legal question concerning the rights of their clients under EU law.
The Clinic
The EU Citizen Rights corner functions as a branch of the Migration Law Clinic: it offers hands-on-legal experience to law school students, who will conduct research and write legal advice on a professional level under the supervision of legal scholars of the Law Faculty of the Vrije Universiteit. The Migration Law Clinic is offered as a master course awarded with 6 EC credits for each semester. For more information see the website or the study guide.
The clinic will run from October to January. The work will consist of:
- Systematically organising and, when necessary, translating relevant information on the situation and needs of EU citizens sent in by the organisations
- Analysing the facts of the case in light of national law, European Union law and (when relevant) other fields of (international) law in its proper societal context
- Discussing, drafting and sending an advice to the organisation, in close cooperation with other students, under the supervision of experts from the VU
Additionally, students are expected to take part in the seminars that take place every other Tuesday in the second semester together with the other students in the Migration Law Clinic. The seminars consist of instruction and supervision but also (guest) lectures and training of practical skills.
Application
The Migration Law Clinic is open to master students in law or criminology and exchange students of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and other universities in the Netherlands. For the EU Citizen Rights Corner, master students of the VU specialisation European and International Law will have preference over other students. We aim to select two or three students.
Students are selected on the basis of the following criteria:
- Motivation to participate in the Clinic;
- Interest in or affinity with European Union Law and/or migration and/or human rights law and/or Dutch administrative law, which should be demonstrated by elective courses or ancillary activities.
- Good study results demonstrated by a list of grades;
- Good writing and research skills which should be demonstrated by papers/assignments/thesis; and
- Good English reading and writing skills demonstrated by papers/assignments/thesis written in English and/or the application letter.
- Dutch reading and writing skills are an asset. The final team should consist of at least two Dutch speakers to translate the cases and advice back and forth to the organisations (who work in Dutch).
- Whether the Clinic fits into the student’s curriculum;
- Availability on Tuesday afternoons during at least one semester;
To apply, students need to send a brief letter stating their motivation, CV, list of grades and a written paper, assignment or article in English to the coordinator of the EU Citizen Rights Corner, Dion Kramer (dion.kramer@vu.nl), before 20 november 2023.
Migration Law Clinic 