An internship can be an excellent opportunity to familiarise oneself with the practice of Law and to gain some experience in the field. The Internship Office of the Amsterdam Law School can be of help when trying to find a trainee post. As well as maintaining contact with traditional legal institutions (e.g. the advocacy, judiciary and notary's office), it has connections with government institutions, banking, consultancy, the trade industry and the media.

When considering an internship, it is most advisable to do it after finishing the Bachelor's programme or during the Master's.

In principle, an internship does not generate EC. In case a student does wish to obtain credits, he/she has to write an assignment accompanied by an internship report which relates to the internship. To be eligible for these EC, the student has to follow the procedure mentioned below.

A student can only gain credits from an internship once. These EC can be integrated in either the Bachelor's or the Master's programme. In case a student is doing more than one Master's programme, an internship can be integrated in each Master's programme, provided the internships relate to the themes of the specific programmes.

For some Master's programmes, integrating an internship requires approval of the programme co-ordinator or the examination board. Please consult the study guide of the Master's.

Internship report

An internship can yield 5 EC when both the internship (by the internship supervisor) and the internship report (by the internship co-ordinator of the UvA) have been approved (see procedure sub 9). The internship report has to contain the initials of the internship supervisor. Furthermore, the supervisor has to write a statement that the intern has either completed 200 hours of internship or 75 hours of consultation at a law clinic or law centre.

An internship report has to contain:

• The intern's personal information: name, address, student number;
• A short description of the institution or company that has provided the internship;
• A description of the department of the institution or company in which the student has done his/her internship;
• A statement of the time period that the internship has covered;
• A description of the activities that have been performed during the internship, such as scientific research or case law research;
• When applicable: a research question with which the intern has been concerned during the internship;
• A description of training activities, courses and other educational elements the intern has attended during the traineeship;
• An evaluation of the internship.

The report has to consist of at least 2 A4 pages. An internship report is public. Any confidential appendices can be kept separately at the institution/company's request.

Assignment

An internship can yield 10 EC when the student not only writes an internship report, but an assignment as well. To be eligible for these 10 EC, the following requirements have to be met:

• A statement by the internship institution/company, declaring that the intern has either completed 200 hours of internship or 75 hours of consultation at a law clinic or law centre;
• An internship report consisting of at least 2 A4 pages, assessed by the internship co-ordinator of the UvA;
• An assignment/paper on a subject relating to the internship, consisting of 8-10 A4 pages, containing approximately 350 words per page, to be assessed by the internship co-ordinator of the UvA;

The assignment can be regarded as a mini-thesis and has to meet the usual thesis requirements. The research question and elaboration have to relate to the internship.

When assessing the assignment and internship report, attention will be paid to presentation, spelling, style, originality of the research question, representation and comprehensiveness of the cited literature and case law, structure, line of reasoning and finally whether or not the conclusion fits the research question.

The internship co-ordinator is authorised to award a grade to the assignment. 

Procedure

If the student wishes to utilise the internship files of the faculty and/or wishes to receive credits for the internship, he/she has to follow the procedure mentioned below.

1. Registration at the internship office, at least 3 months prior to the start of the internship by means of the application form which can be obtained at the Internship Office. This is required since it is not possible to arrange an internship straightaway. Therefore contact Mrs Moll-Doijer by sending an e-mail to:  I.Kist@uva.nl
2. With regard to the application, the student can attend walk-in hours at the Internship Office, or make an appointment for an introductory talk. This talk aims to set forth the procedures, the actions expected from the student in order to obtain an internship and the requirements of the report and assignment. In case these procedures are clear to the student, an exploratory talk is not necessary.
3. The Office can be of service when trying to find an appropriate trainee post. The student is required to contact the internship institution or company himself by means of the data by the Internship Office. In exceptional cases, the Office can help to bring the student into contact with an internship institution or company.
4. The internship institution/company indicates whether the student can send a letter of application and decides whether the student is accepted.
5. Prior to the internship, the student is required to familiarise him/herself as much as possible with information about the internship, e.g. activities to be performed, the supervision, duration and goal of the internship,
6. The Internship Office possesses the particulars of the internship contacts of the specific research groups. These contacts tend to the supervision and co-ordination from the side of the faculty. As soon as it is clear to which research group the internship relates, the student receives the particulars of the relevant contact. The student is expected to approach the contact himself/herself in order to obtain approval of the internship and to come to an agreement about the supervision and assessment (with regard to credits) of the internship
7. The student comes to an agreement with the internship institution or company about confidentiality, compensation and insurance etc. during the period of the internship. These arrangements can be laid down in an internship agreement if so desired.
8. Within 2 - 4 weeks after the end of the internship, the student submits the report and if agreed, an assignment, to the supervisor and simultaneously a copy to the Internship Office.
9. The supervisor assesses the internship according to the (confidential) assessment/evaluation form of the internship organisation/company, the report and possibly the assignment. If necessary, the supervisor can contact the internship supervisor of the internship organisation.

In case the student does not wish to earn credits but does desire to utilise the services offered by the Internship Office, only items 1-4 of the procedure are applicable.

In case the student has found a trainee spot himself/herself and wishes to obtain credits, items 5-9 are applicable. The student then has to report the internship to the Internship Office.

The Internship Office has a fixed file of trainee spots. New trainee spots are published on this website and posted on the notice boards next to room E0.04 and the waiting room of the study counsellors.