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I'm honoured to have been provided the assistance, and to have been able to represent ANU and, by extension, the young Australian legal community. I don't think I could have taken part without the financial support offered by the Scholarship
In 2011, ANU alumna Ellie Fogarty was chosen as one of the eight candidates selected by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take part in the International Court of Justice Traineeship Program in The Hague, Netherlands.
The ANU Yuill Scholarship, named after the late Justice Gordon Yuill of the Family Court of Australia, enabled Ellie to make the most of the opportunity by helping to cover the living expenses associated with taking part in the program.
Ellie found herself rather star-struck upon arriving at the Court. She had been placed with two outstanding judges: Judge Sir Kenneth Keith from New Zealand and Judge Sir Christopher Greenwood from the United Kingdom.
"I was working for two men who, between them, seemed to have been involved in over half the major cases in my international law text books," she says.
The traineeship gave Ellie the opportunity to work with seven other law graduates from diverse cultures, backgrounds and legal training. She believes this allowed her to gain unique perspectives on matters of international law.
"It cemented for me that law, particularly international law, is never black and white, and that being a good lawyer requires an ability to see a particular problem from different angles," she says.
Ellie feels extremely honoured and lucky to be the first recipient of the Yuill Scholarship, making this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity possible.
"I'm honoured to have been provided the assistance, and to have been able to represent ANU and, by extension, the young Australian legal community. I don't think I could have taken part without the financial support offered by the Scholarship," she says.
After finishing the program Ellie won a competitive internship with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a position she was able to accept because of the generosity of the Scholarship.
"The support of the Yuill Scholarship meant that after the ICJ Traineeship Program I still had enough savings to stay in the Hague for a further four months in another unpaid position," she says.
Looking back at her experiences Ellie is thankful for the Scholarship and the opportunities it gave her.
"I'm extremely grateful to the donors who generously funded the Yuill Scholarship - it was vitally important to me," she says.
