GNF Master Class on War Crimes

Applications for Inner Temple member funding to attend the GNF 2025 Master Class have now closed. Details about the course are below for information. Information about future courses will be advertised here and directly to eligible applicants by email.

The objective of the Geoffrey Nice Foundation is to advance a multidisciplinary understanding of International Criminal Justice delivered by courts, truth commissions and in other ways. The Foundation seeks to achieve its goals through training and education programmes, together with other activities, which embrace legal, historical, political and sociological disciplines and their respective methodologies. It operates with students, researchers and academics of these disciplines from different countries, studying and working together. Master Classes take place annually under the general title “Law, History, Politics, and Society in the Context of Mass Atrocities” with different specific programmes for each year.

2014 - On Law, History, Politics and Society in the Context of Mass Atrocities
2015 - Law and Politics of Genocide: 20 Years After Srebrenica
2016 - Conflict Beyond the Reach of Law: Emerging World Order and the Search for Adequate Responses to Political Violence
2017 - Law and Politics of Terrorism: In Search of Adequate Political, Military and Legal Responses to the Threat of Terrorism in the Post-Cold War Era
2018 - Political Expediency behind International Criminal Courts
2019 - Mapping, Documenting and Prosecuting Mass Atrocities
2020 - Transitional, Post-Transitional and Strategic Narratives of Genocide: Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide
2021 - Peace Without Justice: Mass Atrocities in the Post-Human Rights Age
2022 - International Criminal Law and Genocide: An Interdisciplinary Approach
2023 - Accountability for War Crimes in Ukraine – What Will Work
2024 - Genocide: Citizen, State, Victims, Accountability
2025 - Why Go To War: What If Any Law Can Stop Us?

Funding is available for up to six Inner Temple members to attend the Master Class. This typically includes:

• Return flights (up to the value of the cost of return flights from the UK to Dubrovnik). Flight bookings will be made by the Inn. If you are awarded a place on the course, you will be expected to travel out to Dubrovnik on the Sunday 29 June and to return on Sunday 6 July on the best available flights, as selected by The Inner Temple.
• Same-sex shared accommodation with other course participants (as determined and arranged by the Geoffrey Nice Foundation). Course accommodation is close to the IUC at a neighbouring Cloister (run by an order of nuns), at the IUC dormitory itself or at the University of Dubrovnik Dormitory. Single occupancy rooms are strictly limited and typically reserved for those with a medical need, but may be available for an additional sum of around £100, payable by the participant.
• Daily 3-course lunches at the IUC.

Funding will not include expenses for breakfast and evening meals (self-catering facilities will be available in the accommodation), airport transfers nor any personal spending.

Course fees of £100 are payable by the participant to the Inn and will be reimbursed to the Geoffrey Nice Foundation. This cost is to be borne by the participant to ensure parity with other course participants from the Balkans region and further afield. If you have any questions about the course fee, please contact me as soon as possible.

Those allocated funding for the Master Class will be expected to provide a 500-word review of their experiences on the course. This will assist the Inn’s evaluation of the value of the course to members. The reviews will be shared with the Geoffrey Nice Foundation and may be used (in full or in part) for publications and on social media platforms.

You are eligible to apply if you are currently undertaking or have passed the Bar Course within the last four years, whether or not you have been Called to the Bar, attained or started pupillage or are in tenancy. Those who have applied to attend a past course but were not selected are eligible to re-apply. Those who have attended a past course are sadly not eligible to apply.

British, EU and/or Schengen Area passport holders do not need a visa to visit Croatia for visits of up to 90 days. Your passport should be in good condition and valid for a minimum period of 3 months from the date of your exit from Croatia. Details of entry requirements for British passport holders are available on the gov.uk foreign travel advice section on Croatia. Details for EU/Schengen Area passport holders are available on the European Commission website.

Other international passport holders should visit the Croatian Embassy website for more information about entry requirements. The Inn is not equipped to provide guidance on visa requirements but may be able to provide supporting documentation if required. Please note, if you require a visa and your application is successful, it will be your responsibility to identify and arrange a visa in good time and at your expense.

You will be asked to complete an online application, providing personal and professional information; a short statement of interest; details of any volunteering you have done for the Inn and/or profession; to upload a copy of your CV; and to answer three short opinion-based application questions which relate to the course content (but do not anticipate an in-depth knowledge of the topics).

Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. All applications will be assessed by a panel including Master Geoffrey Nice. Funded places on the Master Class will be awarded on merit and the perceived benefit to the member in attending the course. Members will be notified whether or not their application has been successful as soon as possible.

Please contact Wanda Szwed, Executive Assistant to the Sub-Treasurer, with any questions.