The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Legal Clinic has been active since 2016 and engages in pro bono support activities for relevant international and national institutions operating in the area of international humanitarian law. The clinic’s goal is to allow students to engage with the legal and humanitarian challenges posed by armed conflicts and to facilitate the dissemination of the values inherent in the legal framework aimed at protecting the victims of armed conflicts. Participation in this optional course (7 ECTS credits) is open to students of Rome Tre University and foreign students involved in exchange programs (e.g., Erasmus), based on a selection process detailed in the attached file.
The Legal Clinic has collaborated on numerous projects with institutions such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), NATO Allied Command Operations Office of Legal Affairs at SHAPE, Amnesty International Italy, the Italian Red Cross, the Centre for Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies-Disaster Law Programme (IFRC), and more. Additionally, the IHL Legal Clinic has participated in international partnership programs with other legal clinics, such as the current IHL Red (https://www.ihl-red.org/), which involves the humanitarian law clinics of Bochum, Leiden, and Rome Tre. These collaborations encompass joint projects and student exchange visits.
Collaboration can take place through detailed ‘desk studies,’ which involve analyzing legal issues relevant to these institutions regarding armed conflict situations, as well as through innovative projects utilizing digital technologies, including databases and mobile applications. For example, in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Rome Tre IHL legal clinic developed an innovative database for the International Humanitarian Law in Action project (https://ihl-in-action.icrc.org). This project aims to identify and systematize concrete examples in which states or organized armed groups have correctly applied international humanitarian law in recent armed conflicts. These case-studies contain an analysis of facts and relevant legal issues and are freely available in the online database managed by the ICRC. This material is consistently used in disseminating IHL to the armed forces and civil society, demonstrating the actual relevance of these norms even in complex warlike situations, by state and non-state actors alike. In May 2018, the Director-General of the ICRC (Yves Daccord) expressed appreciation for this academic project in his statement regarding the protection of civilians in armed conflicts before the United Nations Security Council, bringing it to the attention of UN members as an example of best practices and a contribution to the dissemination of international humanitarian law. Similarly, the IHL Legal Clinic conducted two research projects for the ICRC on the Italian practice in the field of international humanitarian law, contributing to the study of Customary IHL and its related database (https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl).
One significant cooperation is with the NATO Allied Command Operations Office of Legal Affairs at SHAPE, for which IHL Legal Clinic students develop research reports on current issues in international humanitarian law, with the possibility for some students to benefit from internships at NATO Command Offices.
For the Italian Red Cross, the legal clinic has overseen the scientific component of two mobile applications, already downloaded by tens of thousands of users as part of IHL dissemination activities carried out by the Italian Red Cross. These are:
– ‘Quiz DIU,’ a series of 60 questions and answers on international humanitarian law issues, organized at different difficulty levels, allowing users to test their knowledge in this field in a user-friendly manner. This app has proven particularly useful as a complement to the training and dissemination activities of the Italian Red Cross among the armed forces and civil society (schools, universities, etc.) due to its intuitive nature and modern learning approach. Available for Android and Apple.
– ‘Codici di diritto internazionale umanitario.’ This app includes all the major treaties of international humanitarian law, facilitating their consultation as it can operate offline and through an analysis of individual provisions or the entire text. One notable feature is its multilingual function, as the documents have been uploaded in English, French, Italian, and Spanish, allowing foreign audiences to also benefit from this useful app for free.
Approximately 15 students (from Roma Tre and abroad) participate in the IHL legal clinic’s activities each year, following the selection process detailed in the attached file (selections usually take place at the end of September). The working language is English due to the international nature of the partners involved and the participating students.
Students are invited to apply for the IHL Legal Clinic according to information provided below.
- A preliminary informal meeting to present the activities of the IHL Legal Clinic and provide relevant information will take place on Tuesday 30th September 2025 at 14:30. The meeting will be held on a hybrid form both on-line through Teams and in-presence at the Department of Law (room of the exam of ‘Diritto internazionale’).
- Students interested to take part in the IHL Legal Clinic are required to send an email to giulio.bartolini@uniroma3.it by Thursday 2nd October 2025 at 14:00. In this email students are kindly invited to provide: a) relevant information (e.g. a CV/text in the email containing information on: Academic career (year of study, number of passed exams, average grade); Previous exams related to international law issues or legal clinics; Languages known; b) a separate letter of motivation for their interest to take part in the IHL legal clinic.
- The selection process will imply a chat to be carried out in-presence at prof. Bartolini’s office (Office no. 318, Third floor, Department of Law) or on-line for those unable to be in Rome. The selection will be held on Friday 3rd October 2025 at 16.00. The interview will permit to assess the interest and capacity of candidates to take part in this innovative project also based on information provided above. For those joining on-line please use this Teams Link identifier #identifier__59207-1LINK to connect.
Students admitted to the IHL Legal Clinic will subsequently start the course on Monday 6 October 2025.
Link identifier #identifier__117727-2Course programme
Link identifier #identifier__39820-3Course details
Link identifier #identifier__7760-4Professor Giulio Bartolini