CALL FOR INTERNS

Through this call for interns, The Square Circle Clinic aims to develop a robust and rewarding internship programme that will provide meaningful exposure to criminal justice issues in India. Towards that aim, we are pleased to introduce our internship policy, under which we seek to accept interns on a rolling basis.

About The Square Circle Clinic:

The Square Circle Clinic is a criminal justice initiative at NALSAR University of Law, with its offices in New Delhi, Pune, Nagpur and Hyderabad. The Square Circle Clinic undertakes pro bono criminal defense of prisoners sentenced to death and also undertrials,, research and public engagement efforts on issues relating to the death penalty, forensics, criminalisation and punishment, prevention of torture, legal aid, and mental health and criminal justice.

The founders, leadership group, and the full-time staff members at The Square Circle Clinic earlier carried on the above mentioned criminal justice work as Project 39A and moved to NALSAR in April 2025.

We are keen to have interns in the following areas of our work:

Research: Our research efforts lay significant emphasis on fieldwork and empirical analysis. Efforts involve work on various aspects of the following issues:

• forensic science with a particular focus on DNA forensics
• legal aid in the criminal justice system
• mental health and criminal justice
• torture
• administration of the death penalty
• criminalisation and punishment

Litigation: To ensure competent pro bono legal representation for prisoners sentenced to death in various parts of India, irrespective of the crime. Our offices in Pune and Nagpur provide trial-level pro bono legal representation to undertrials in Pune and Nagpur Central Prisons.

Mitigation Investigation: To work with the mitigation investigators in developing in-depth life histories of prisoners sentenced to death and develop mitigation investigation reports to be submitted in courts on behalf of the defence team for sentencing hearings. We particularly encourage students from social science disciplines, humanities, psychology, psychiatry and other allied disciplines to apply for internships in this team.

Strategic Communication: To develop public communication strategies on various critical issues concerning the criminal justice system in India. This involves engagement with different storytelling strategies across mediums and also work on the organisation’s social media strategy.

Eligibility:

The internship is open to students enrolled in recognised undergraduate or postgraduate programmes in law, humanities, social sciences, psychology, psychiatry, or media and communications. Those enrolled in other programmes may apply but preference will be given to students enrolled in programmes listed above. The internship programme is open to students enrolled in recognised programmes both in India and abroad.

Responsibilities:

Candidates will be asked to undertake tasks that may involve assisting with litigation activities, research projects or initiatives in public outreach. While the organisation shall attempt to account for the interests expressed by the interns, it reserves the right to allocate tasks as it deems fit for its requirements. All members of The Square Circle Clinic undertake administrative duties and therefore interns will also be expected to assist in administrative matters. Interns will be required to observe the working hours of The Square Circle Clinic (10am to 6pm) and work from its offices only.