Mitchell McClenaghan will leave Dunedin on Sunday for a six-month post as an intern with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague in the Netherlands.
''I have a personal disgust, but a professional interest.
''It's about accountability. It's something I'm very passionate about,'' he said yesterday.
''It's an unpaid job. I'll be working with a prosecutor, probably in the appeals division.
''I'm a bit apprehensive about it, but that is dampened down by extreme excitement.
''It's going to be a whole new world. I've only travelled to Australia before. I'll be staying in a flat near The Hague with three other interns.''
Mr McClenaghan (23) attended Otago Boys' High School before completing a double degree in history and law at the University of Otago.
The court was established by the United Nations Security Council to prosecute serious crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
The tribunal is investigating grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including violations of the laws or customs of war, genocide and crimes against humanity.
It has indicted 161 people, including former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina Goran Hadzic, former president of the Republika Srpska Radovan Karadzic and former Bosnian Serb Army commander Ratko Mladic.
The tribunal will complete its work at the end of this year, when its responsibilities will be transferred to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
Mr McClenaghan starts his new job on February 18.
