British Institute of Human Rights offers summer internship programme

15 February 2016

About us

The British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) is a national independent human rights charity that is committed to bringing human rights to life in the UK. Founded over 40 years ago, we work to:

• Support people and organisations to know about human rights.
• Help civil society groups and public sector organisations to put them into practice in everyday life beyond the courtrooms.
• Encourage respect for human rights laws and systems, communicating our evidence of human rights in action in the UK to inform national law and policy change.

For further information about BIHR visit the their website.

About the Queen Mary Summer Internship Scheme

BIHR’s offices are in the Law School of Queen Mary University London. Our internship programme offers students a unique opportunity to gain experience and insight into the workings of a charity at the forefront of human rights issues in the UK. Interns will be provided with opportunities to attend BIHR’s training programmes and events, to accompany staff to external meetings and to shadow the Director and Senior Staff as part of their overall learning experience.

Interns are asked to volunteer for 2 to 3 days per week over the summer vacation period (June-August). The role is voluntary, but BIHR will refund travel expenses and lunch up to £5 per day. The internship will be based at BIHR’s offices in the Mile End campus.

Internship description

Interns will help to support BIHR’s research, policy, education and communications work, as well as providing practical and administrative support to some of our flagship projects, including our UK-wide community outreach programme - the Human Rights Tour. Typically, our interns will gain experience in one or both of the following areas:

Legal and policy research to support our project work and current priorities, including work on:

• Current debates about the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.
• Promoting human rights in the health and social care sector.
• Developing the training and educational materials which support community based groups to use human rights to protect the rights of marginalised groups in the UK.

Assisting with outreach and training, including supporting programme work for the Human Rights Tour. This will include:

• Helping with research and preparing materials and packs for training.
• Logistical research and data capture and analysis.
• Communications and marketing.

Person Specification

Essential

• Good research and IT skills, including the ability to use legal databases e.g. Westlaw, Lexis Nexis, etc.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Willingness to carry out administrative tasks.
• Good organisational skills with accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ability to work on own initiative and to deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills – including fluency in English.
• Verbal skills include a confident telephone manner, and negotiation and influencing skills.
• Written skills include a clear concise written style with the ability to use plain English.
• Interest in domestic human rights and their value for people in the UK, including a basic knowledge of the Human Rights Act and/or European Convention on Human Rights.

Desirable

• Knowledge of using social media to communicate with people, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
• Experience of maintaining and updating websites.

Application Process

The BIHR internship scheme opens for applications in the second semester. In 2016, the internship will be open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students from the School of Law.

All applicants must complete the Internship Application Form [Word] [DOC 225KB] and Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form [Word] [DOC 141KB]. Please note CVs and covering letters will not be considered.

Applications should be sent to Leonard Lewis by email to llewis@bihr.org.uk or in hardcopy to the BIHR office; room 3.09, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS. If you are sending your application by email please send as a Word (or PDF) file called InternshipApp_FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME.

The deadline for receiving applications is 5pm on 4 March 2016. Interviews will take place during the week of 14 March. The expected starting date will be the week of 20 June 2016.