Legal Advocacy Internships in Arusha

Internship details

These internships are ideal for those looking for realistic legal aid work experience. Interns work alongside legal advocates providing legal aid and advice to those who cannot afford it. Help raise awareness, support those in need, assist vulnerable people in the community and gain real life legal work experience.

This is an in-country internship, with accommodation and meals included. Click here to explore remote Law & Human Rights internships, which you can do from home.

Legal Advocacy internships in Tanzania provide a unique opportunity to contribute towards the challenging work of injustice and inequality. Interns are placed with experienced, practicing advocates who provide mentoring and supervision as you assist with ongoing cases, client meetings, providing legal opinion and legal research.

Interns are given activities and/or a caseload to work through with your supervisor each day. Daily activities can include:

• Attending client meetings and counseling clients.
• Attending court sessions.
• Preparing for hearings, sessions and suites.
• Court submissions.
• Preparing legal documents for submission.
• Discussing complex or unique cases as a team.
• Learning about the Tanzanian Justice system and how it’s navigated by ordinary people.
• Learning about advocacy and advocating for vulnerable people.

Your supervisor will help to guide your tasks and you’ll generally collaborate with them to understand the issues, research legal precedents and statutes, and help to find solutions. You should come prepared to expect days that are busy and challenging, and other days which may be more slow paced.

Interns may also have the ability to shadow and observe supervisors as they represent clients in Magistrate and Primary Court cases. Here you’ll have the opportunity to sit through formal court proceedings, while also assisting in the magistrates office, helping with admin of legal documents. All interns are encouraged to be highly motivated, resilient, and capable of working well within a team in order to learn, cooperate, and get the most out of this compelling international experience.

Please note that this placement strictly requires interns to wear formal attire. This means that you should wear a collared shirt. Men are expected to wear respectable trousers and women may similarly dress formally with dark coloured pants or a long skirt (which must not fall above the knee). It’s advisable to bring a laptop.

In all cases, interns should expect that the first week of your experience will focus on settling in and gaining some introductory knowledge, as you will not “hit the ground running”. Rather, you should start with learning about the placement to gain an understanding of what you can build upon, develop, learn, and contribute. Ensure that you ask questions and provide feedback during the introductory period, so that your supervisor understands how you’re progressing. This will help them to better understand important details, such as how quickly you learn, what you find challenging, what you find interesting, etc.

Understand and expect that individual internship experiences vary, as the specific placement that you’re assigned will depend on review of your resume and your current level of studies and experience. Therefore, if you’re at a more introductory level, you should reasonably expect a more introductory internship. Likewise, if you’re interning for a shorter duration, you will have a different experience from someone who is interning for a longer duration. Placement preferences are considered but always subject to availability.

Career Benefits