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The Edinburgh International Justice Initiative (EIJI) is a student run initiative that seeks to help institutions working to ensure justice for victims of international crimes and strengthen the international justice system by providing pro-bono legal research assistance that can make a practical difference.

About

Our Method

We believe that there is still a long way to go before we have a functioning international justice system that ensures protection for all. Therefore, we decided to try to do something about it. We deliver free research assistance on legal issues and digital evidence investigation and verification for institutions and organisations involved in international justice. By doing this we hope to help strengthen the international justice system as a whole, and hopefully contribute to a world with less impunity. 

Our Researchers 

EIJI is split into different research teams, which are each led by students. Every team works with an experienced supervisor to do in-depth legal research on issues important for our clients work. All our clients work in international criminal law, international human rights law or other international justice related areas. 

The teams (usually made up of 4-6 people) work on a project for a defined period of time, usually over a semester. The work often includes involvement in and learning more about jurisprudence of international courts, general research processes, teamwork and report structuring. Team members often have the opportunity to interact with and work along side esteem academics and professionals from around the world.

Our Clients

Our clients are usually institutions that strive to promote international justice through their work. In our first project we worked with an non-governmental organisation that was sending a communication to the International Criminal Court, and we helped with in depth research related to crimes against humanity which they integrated into their report.

However, our clients can be any type of organisation, and we are seeking to expand our expertise and work on any project contributing to international justice. 

Our Supervisors

We strive to ensure that every research team has an experienced professional as a supervisor for their project. They may have worked in an international criminal court, human rights tribunal, or just have strong expertise in the area we are researching. Regardless, our work as researchers will have elaborate input from an experienced professional who can quality assure the research we do, and all research we deliver to our clients will have been read and shaped by our supervisors. 

Acknowledgements

We want to especially acknowledge some of the institutions that have been very helpful in building EIJI. We want to thank the University of Leidens Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum, Stanford University International Human Rights Clinic and the University of Edinburgh Law School for their invaluable contribution to the development of the initiative and look forward to future cooperation! 

Our Alumni

Alumni from the 2019/2020 Executive Team:

Mathias JacobsenCo-Founder and Director

Linn Lagerholm – Co-Founder and Research Team Coordinator

Meghan Ingram – Head of Acquisitions

Kayla Mozeson – Marketing and Branding Coordinator

Henriette Berg – Head of Recruitment and Development

Zora Stanik – Executive of Marketing and Communications

Dorcas Baah – Senior Legal Researcher

Ipek Atalay – Senior Legal Researcher

Kate Hanna – Senior Legal Researcher

Bella Eperon – Blog and Content Coordinaton

Alumni from the 2020/2021 Executive Team:

Shy Zvouloun – Direct of EIJI

Madeline Chambers – Head of Legal Development

Hally Blanchard – Head of Recruitment & Human Resources

Zora Stanik – Head of Marketing & Communications

Ruby Fulham-FitzGerald – Head of Business & Finance

Henry Dalton – Head of Project Development

Kelsey Greeff – Marketing & Branding Associate

Nikita Nandandwad – Blog & Content Coordinator

Dorcas Baah – Research Coordinator

Luca Montag – Research Coordinator

Katie Feltham – Research Coordinator

Blog

EIJI Digital Verification Project

Last summer, the EIJI collaborated with researchers from Leiden University to conduct a Digital Evidence Verification Project. One of our research teams, in partnership with the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities, worked on verifying incidents of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Cameroon military or members of non-state armed groups. This project has since …

Yemen war: the ‘world’s worst humanitarian crisis’

The Yemeni Crisis originated in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring when authoritarian leader Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to concede power to his deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. However, Mr. Hadi struggled with several problems after assuming presidency, such as attacks by jihadists, corruption, unemployment, food insecurity, and an ongoing separatist movement in the …

‘100 days of slaughter’: The Rwandan genocide

The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994, during which members of the ethnic minority, Tutsis, were sought out and systematically slaughtered by armed militia and extremists belonging to the ethnic majority Hutus. Moderate Hutus and anyone suspected of sheltering Tutsis were also killed. Today, the Rwandan genocide is among the most …