Översikt
Join our Law internship in Ghana to gain invaluable experience in the legal field. You’ll work at a legal aid centre, and gain a deeper insight into a developing country’s judicial system. You’ll learn directly from local lawyers, which will add valuable work experience to your CV and help your future career.
Your work will focus on providing legal support for human rights disputes. This means that you’ll work with organisations that offer legal advice to people who don’t usually have access to lawyers. Many of their clients earn a small income and can’t afford to take matters to court, so you’ll gain work experience and help those in need at the same time.
You will live with a local host family in the bustling city of Accra. Make the most of this time to learn more about the local culture, customs, and eat loads of delicious traditional food.
Is Law in Ghana the right internship for me?
Would you like to gain legal work experience in a developing country? Are you passionate about helping people in need? Then our Law Internship in Ghana is perfect for you.
You’ll learn from experienced lawyers, and work alongside paralegals and legal clerks. You can use this experience to boost your CV, and it will give you interesting points to talk about in interviews and applications.
You don’t need previous experience to join this project. We’ll assign work to you based on your skill and experience. Large volumes of work and complex cases are only assigned to interns with relevant skills and experience. The work assigned to you is also dependent on which cases we take on while you’re in Ghana.
This programme runs year-round, with a short two week break over Christmas and New Year. You can join at any other time for a minimum of four weeks. We recommend staying longer to learn more and work on a larger number of cases. You’ll also return home with more law work experience from your time in Ghana.
What will I do at my Law placement in Ghana?
As a Law intern in Ghana, you will be working alongside local lawyers, paralegals, and clerks in a professional environment. You can expect to perform some of the following tasks:
- Help local lawyers with important administrative legal tasks, such as drafting documents
- Observe local legal practitioners as they work with clients and in court
- Work directly with clients to help them prepare for their cases
- Assist with cases from our Human Rights Project in Ghana
Your work will focus on these areas:
Administrative tasks
During your Law internship in Ghana, you may encounter any number of administrative legal tasks similar to those found in a law firm in your own country.
These may include:
- Registering new applicants
- Conducting interviews
- Attending court
- Drafting legal documents.
Through this work, you will also get an insight into the legal and human rights challenges people face everyday in Ghana. One day, you may help out with a child maintenance case and the next with a probate landlord.
Observe local legal professionals at work
When you aren’t busy with administrative tasks, you will be able to attend court and observe live cases. This is a great opportunity to see Ghana’s legal system in action. Since you will be accompanying resident lawyers from the organisation you’ll be working at, you may be expected to take notes. These could be used to refer back to at a later stage, so be thorough!
Interact with clients
The local lawyers you work with may ask you to help with various client meetings. This could include preparing them with information for their upcoming case, or interviewing them about their side of the story.
The types of cases dealt with vary depending on your placement, but often include:
- Constitutional matters
- Probate (wills and inheritance)
- Landlord/tenant
- Family, custody, child maintenance, and matrimonial disputes
- Criminal
- Property
- Contracts
- Employment
- Personal injury/negligence
Assisting with the Human Rights Project
In addition to your full time law placement in Ghana, you could assist our interns in the Human Rights Project. Your legal knowledge and experience will no doubt enhance these projects.
This can include conducting in-house seminars, assisting with office research, or attending one of our advocacy and outreach sessions. You may also assist in training and mediation in more community-based dispute resolution settings.
The availability of this work will depend on our current Human Rights Project, as well as your experience, interests, and personal schedule.
Where you will be working as a Law intern in Ghana
Accra
You will be based in the city of Accra. Here, you will work at a legal aid centre.
With a population of 2.7 million people, Accra is the largest city in Ghana and also the country’s capital. There is plenty to see and do in your free time and over weekends. We encourage you to make the most of your time in Ghana and explore with other Projects Abroad interns and volunteers.
A typical day as a Law intern in Ghana
As a Law intern in Ghana, your typical working hours will be 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
You will normally start your mornings in the office at your placement. The first hour or two of the day will be dedicated to helping with legal administration. This may include drafting legal documents and affidavits, and conducting legal research.
By late morning, you may either accompany one of the local lawyers to court or interact with clients. The latter may include registering new cases, conducting interviews, or preparing clients for their cases.
You will get an hour and a half break over lunch time. If your host family lives close by, you could head home to eat and have a short rest. Alternatively, you will be able to enjoy a packed lunch.
Afternoons are normally divided between going to court and continuing with administrative tasks. If you had been to court earlier, you may be expected to prepare some notes for a discussion. If you’ve been working with clients, you would be able to complete filing their most recent case information.
Evenings and weekends are your free time to explore, rest, and relax. Accra has a lively atmosphere and some fabulous restaurants. You can use weekends to adventure slightly further afield. Head out on a hiking trail in the mountains, take a trip to the beach, or visit a nature reserve.
What are the aims and impacts of the Law Internship in Ghana?
The aim of this project is to expand your knowledge about law and give you insight into the judicial system of a developing country.
You will work alongside local lawyers, paralegals and clerks in a professional environment, and learn from them. This will add valuable practical experience to your CV, which will help you with your career or postgraduate studies.
This project also has an altruistic goal. In Ghana, getting legal help can be a lengthy and expensive process. This makes it difficult for disadvantaged people to settle disputes and fight for their rights in courts. As a legal intern working at a placement like the Ghana Legal Aid Scheme, you can help these people take their cases further.
You can also support the work we do at the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office in Accra. Here, we deal with a range of issues, from domestic violence to child labour.
Join us as a Law intern in Ghana and kickstart your legal career in a different country.
Volontärarbete för yrkesprofessionella
Det här projektet är även perfekt för kvalificerade yrkesprofessionella. Med dina kunskaper kan vi tillsammans göra ännu större skillnad. Vi kommer matcha dig med en projektplacering där dina kunskaper behövs som mest. Det innebär att du kan dela med dig av dina kunskaper med andra. Tillsammans kommer du arbeta med partnerorganisationer för att skapa hållbar positiv förändring för människor på plats.
Om du har relevanta kvalifikationer, kontakta oss så kan vi hjälpa dig!
Vi mäter resultatet av vårt arbete varje år
Vi arbetar mot långsiktigt mål med årliga delmål. Varje volontär och praktikant som deltar på ett av våra projekt hjälper oss att nå dessa långsiktiga mål. På så sätt kan även de som volontärarbetar eller praktiserar en kortare tid göra verklig skillnad. Varje person bygger på arbetet som tidigare volontärer och praktikanter gjort. Varje år utvärderar vi resultatet av vårt arbete. Du kan hitta en sammanställning av vad vi uppnått under året i vår Global Impact Report.
För mer information om vilken insats våra volontärer, praktikanter och personal gjort under året, läs vår senaste rapport.
Mat och boende
Du kommer bo hos en värdfamilj i Accra, Akuapem Hills, Cape Coast eller Dodowa. Din värdfamilj kommer välkomna dig som en familjemedlem till deras hem. De kommer lära dig mer om deras traditioner och om den lokala kulturen. Vi tror att det här är det bästa sättet att verkligen lära känna kulturen i ett nytt land. Du kommer få en unik upplevelse av Ghana.
Vi försöker alltid placera dig så att du bor med en annan Projects Abroad volontär eller praktikant. Ditt rum kommer vara enkelt men bekvämt, rent och säkert.
Din projektavgift inkluderar tre måltider om dagen.
Läs mer om våra boenden.
Fritidsaktiviteter när du är ledig
När du volontärarbetar i Ghana kommer du även få chansen att utforska detta färgstarka västafrikanska land. Det finns så många olika typer av aktiviteter att göra här så du kommer ha fullt upp på fritiden.
Musik är en otroligt viktig del i den ghanaiska kulturen. I större stöder som Accra kommer du kunna lyssna till många olika liveband och få oförglömliga minnen från det livliga nattlivet. Eller tillbringa dina kvällar med att smaka på goda lokala rätter på någon av de många restaurangerna.
För att lära dig mer om Ghanas historia rekommenderar vi ett besök i Cape Coast, där du kan gå på rundtur i slavforten och besöka museum.
Älskar du vara ute i naturen? Passa på att vandra genom regnskogen i Kakum National Park eller Mole National Park.
Vi driver många olika projekt i Ghana, så det finns andra Projects Abroad volontärer att lära känna. Du kan därför välja mellan att utforska Ghana tillsammans med andra eller utforska självständigt.
Säkerhet och personalstöd
Din säkerhet är vår första prioritet. Vi har många processer och system på plats för att se till att du har all hjälp och support som du behöver. För oss är det viktigt att du ska känna dig trygg när du reser med oss. Vår egen Projects Abroad personal finns tillgänglig för hjälp och stöd 24h om dygnet. De kommer se till att du trivs i ditt boende och känner dig hemma på din projektplacering. Om du skulle stöta på något problem, finns vår personal alltid där för att hjälpa dig.
Läs mer om support och säkerhet.
Meet the team in Ghana
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