UCL Public International Law Pro Bono Project
This project brings together LLM and PhD students with a background in international law and provides them with opportunities to get first hand practical experience in public international law
Please note: The UCL PIL Pro Bono Project will be taking a brief hiatus in the 2026-27 academic year to account for the sabbatical leave of its co-Directors.
Students who may have been interested in participating should consider applying to participate in this year’s international law mooting teams, or should explore the pro bono opportunities provided through our award-winning Centre for Access to Justice. On the mooting front, look out for opportunities to apply to join the Jessup or Vis mooting teams, both of which are supported by the Faculty and have represented it with great success in recent years!
The UCL Public International Law Pro Bono Project brings together highly motivated LLM and PhD students with a background in relevant subject areas, and provides them with opportunities to engage in cutting-edge legal research, analysis and advice to assist leading international organisations in addressing some of the world’s most pressing and difficult challenges. The Project was established with two main objectives in mind. First, we aim to provide our LLM and PhD students with the opportunity to work both individually and collaboratively on issues of major practical and international importance. This helps our international law students develop the skills necessary to thrive in their future careers, whether in legal practice, academic research, or policy-making. Second, by tapping into the expertise, skills and enthusiasm of our student body, the PILPBP is a means through which UCL can make an important and enduring contribution to respect for human rights around the world.
The UCL Public International Law Pro Bono Project has been honoured with a Provost’s Education Award. The highly regarded award recognises and rewards UCL activities which make outstanding contributions to the learning experience and success of their students.
LLM students on the Project work in close collaboration with the PhD Co-ordinators and the Project Directors. This collaboration across LLM and PhD students, under the direction of UCL Laws academic staff, is an integral part of achieving the twin objectives of the PILPBP.
PIL Pro Bono Partners
The PIL Pro Bono Project partners with different organisations each year – the following is a sample of partnerships from previous years.
The Project has a co-operation agreement with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), under which students may be asked to provide the Court with high-quality research on legal questions raised in cases as they are litigated. The Project also participates in the Inter-American human rights system by contributing amicus briefs in respect of requests to the Court for an Advisory Opinion. The PILPBP has submitted several amicus briefs to the Court on various human rights issues and has participated in the oral phase of proceedings in each case, giving several LLM students the opportunity to appear before the Court.
The Project also regularly carries out research for Redress and has contributed to a number of important projects, including Redress’ submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ Inquiry into the Human Rights Act (‘20 years of the Human Rights Act inquiry’), its work on the joint civil society shadow report on the UK submitted to the UN Committee against Torture, and a strategic litigation Casebook to be used in training human rights lawyers the world over.
The PILPBP has worked on a legal/policy paper for Geneva Call on non-international armed conflicts (‘NIACs’), a project that will help shape Geneva Call’s engagement with non-state actors in NIACs, with a view to encouraging compliance with international humanitarian law. The PIL Pro Bono Project has also prepared an IHL in Action case study for the ICRC; has prepared a memo for the Executive of the World Refugee Council (a non-governmental organisation established by leading global policy makers, including a Nobel Peace Prize winner), setting out innovative ways of unlocking the frozen assets of refugee-creating regimes, with a view to responding to the global refugee crisis; and has assisted the Syrian Legal Development Programme with its important work, including through a ‘scoping’ exercise analysing the extent to which various States have a legal and political environment which is receptive to refugee concerns.
The organisations with which the Project collaborates may change over time, but the Project will always be engaging in high-level research with human rights and humanitarian impact!
Direction of the Project
The Project is co-directed by Professors Kimberley Trapp and Alex Mills. The PhD Project Co-ordinators are confirmed each year.
Student Roles
UCL LLM students go through a very competitive application process in order to participate in the PIL Pro Bono Project. While there are no formal ‘pre-requisites’ for participation as such, having studied Public International Law and / or Human Rights Law at the undergraduate level can offer a competitive advantage. As participation in the PILPBP is intended to support experiential learning, successful applicants are invariably studying several modules on the Public International Law and / or Human Rights Law specialisms at UCL Laws.
The UCL Public International Law Pro Bono Project had a particularly strong impact on my professional development. Discussing litigation strategy and drafting pleadings in a case before the Inter-American system, alongside fellow student advisers, enriched my perspective on the challenges that continue to trouble access to justice worldwide.
