SAIL Intensive: Applied International Law for Journalists
Learn how to assess, frame, and report international legal claims with clarity, precision, and editorial confidence — without needing a law degree.
button
[Add video]
You’re covering the biggest legal stories in the world. Without a map.
War crimes. ICJ judgments. ICC arrest warrants. Treaty violations. Sanctions regimes. Ceasefire agreements.
These stories are now central to international news coverage. And the legal claims inside them made by governments, NGOs, lawyers, and activists are frequently imprecise, contested, or simply wrong.
As a journalist, you are expected to translate and assess them accurately. In real time. On deadline.
Without legal training.
Introducing the SAIL Intensive
Applied International Law for Journalists
A single intensive course that gives you the frameworks, tools, and confidence to report international legal claims with precision on any story, anywhere in the world.
Delivered by Dr Yusra Suedi: Associate Professor of International Law at the Universities of Manchester and Geneva, former UN lawyer, and a practitioner with experience before the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court.
Who the SAIL Intensive is for:
This course is for you if you’ve ever...
✓ Quoted someone calling something a “war crime”, “genocide” or “crime against humanity” without properly understanding the difference between these terms
✓ Had, or feared having, a correction get issued on a piece because a legal term was used imprecisely
✓ Been on deadline with a breaking conflict story, needed a legal answer fast, and had no reliable expert to call
✓ Read a statement that something was “(il)legal under international law” and not known what questions to ask to challenge that claim
✓ Felt the gap between the confidence your byline projects and the uncertainty you feel when the story turns on a legal question you haven’t been trained to answer.
Why Me/Now
Story
Press mentions — you have Guardian, Al Jazeera, Reuters. These function as social proof even without testimonials. Add a “As seen in” or “Dr Suedi’s analysis has been cited by” section with logos.
Numbers — 1,300 SAIL subscribers, X years of ICJ/ICC practice, X countries represented. Numbers signal credibility even without testimonials.
Named organisations — WEF, UN. “Previously delivered training for the World Economic Forum and United Nations” functions as institutional social proof. Add this visibly near the top, not buried in the bio.
The system
What you’ll cover
Session 1: International Law Fundamentals for Conflict Reporters
What international law actually is, who it binds, and why every legal claim from every source needs scrutiny before it goes into print
Session 2: Reporting on Whether an Attack Is Legal
Self-defence, aggression, occupation — the most contested legal questions in every conflict, and how to report them accurately
Session 3: Reporting on How Wars Are Fought
Civilian casualties, hospitals, siege, starvation, human shields — the legal framework behind the most common reporting errors in conflict journalism
Session 4: War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide
When you can use these words, when you can't, and what the legal threshold actually requires — with live exercises using real statements from governments, NGOs, and courts
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
✓ Distinguish between a state violating international law and an individual committing an international crime (one of the most common and consequential conflations in conflict reporting)
✓ Accurately describe what the ICJ, ICC, and courts can and cannot do, and report on their rulings, orders, and warrants without overstating or understating their legal effect
✓ Assess whether a government’s claim of self-defence, aggression, or occupation is legally plausible, and report on it accurately
✓ Apply the core rules governing how wars must be fought to real incidents, and know what can be reported as fact versus what requires qualification
✓ Use the words war crime, crimes against humanity, and genocide correctly — understanding the precise legal threshold each requires and the consequences of conflating them
✓ Identify when sources (from governments, NGOs, lawyers, legal experts) are making claims that go beyond what the law actually supports, and report that gap accurately
✓ Know where to find and how to use the primary legal sources (court rulings, treaty databases, ICJ orders, ICC warrants) to independently verify any legal claim without needing a lawyer to do it for you
✓ Audit any international law claim in a story before publication, catching the errors that create corrections, complaints, and credibility damage before they reach your editor
What’s included
The SAIL Intensive course One intensive day of lpre, interactive training delivered by Dr Yusra Suedi customised to your newsroom’s specific coverage areas and recent stories. Online or in person.
The complete SAIL Toolkit All six frameworks, checklists, and templates in a single reference document your team keeps and uses on every story going forward.
12 months access to session recordings Every participant gets access to the full session recording for 12 months; review any module, any time.
What's been standing in the way, and how the SAIL Intensive removes it:
International law is dense and inaccessible.
The SAIL Intensive uses plain-language frameworks throughout. No jargon, no prerequisites, no law degree assumed.
No time to study it.
One intensive session. Maximum value, minimum time. You will leave with tools you can use immediately.
Sources use advocacy language that blurs legal standards.
The Allegation vs Finding Guide gives your journalists a clear framework for cutting through it every time.
Fear of getting the terminology wrong.
The Headline Risk Audit Template catches errors before publication — before they reach your editor, team, or your corrections column.
Confusion over which court does what.
The Jurisdiction and Enforcement Decoder stays in your toolkit permanently. One page. Every court. What it can and can’t do.
No one to ask when a legal question arises on deadline.
Optional ongoing advisory access puts a practitioner in your corner (without the law firm price tag!).
Three ways to access the SAIL Intensive
Individual journalist — £147 / $ 197 USD. Self-paced access to the complete SAIL Intensive recordings, the full SAIL Toolkit, and 12 months of materials access. Founding rate: £97 / $ 130 USD until 31 October 2026. [Add button]
Institutional Licence — from £3,500/year. Unlimited team access to recordings and materials for 12 months. Team certificates of completion. One invoice. Annual renewal option. Follow-up Q&A session included. Contact hello@learnsail.org to discuss your team’s needs and receive a tailored proposal.
Bespoke Live Delivery — pricing on request. The full SAIL Intensive delivered live to your team by Dr Yusra Suedi. Customised to your coverage area and recent stories. Interactive exercises using your team’s actual reporting. Online and in-person options available. Contact hello@learnsail.org. Due to the applied and interactive nature of this delivery, and high demand, SAIL works with a limited number of newsrooms per year.
Pre-sale: Join the founding cohort
[Add button]
Founding members who pre-register now receive:
✓ The lowest price this course will ever be offered at
✓ Priority access to the first live cohort
✓ Direct input into the course content before it’s finalised
✓ First access to the SAIL Toolkit on release
Individual founding rate: £97 [Pre-register now — £97] Full price £147 after 31 October 2026.
For institutional and bespoke enquiries at founding rates: hello@learnsail.org
Try it risk-free.
If you complete the SAIL Intensive and don’t feel meaningfully more confident assessing and reporting international legal claims, SAIL will refund you in full. No questions asked.
I am confident enough in what this course delivers to put my money where my mouth is.
For institutional clients: if your team doesn’t leave the session with tools they can use immediately, we will schedule a follow-up session at no additional cost until they do.
[Add button]
Register today and receive these free:
Bonus 1 — The International Law Reporting Glossary (Value: £47)
A plain-language reference guide to the 50 most commonly misused international law terms in conflict journalism. War crime. Genocide. Occupation. Annexation. Self-defence. Proportionality. Each defined precisely, with examples of correct and incorrect usage in real headlines. Yours to keep and use on every story going forward.
Bonus 2 — The Source Red Flag Checklist (Value: £27)
A one-page checklist for evaluating any source making an international law claim — government, NGO, lawyer, or court. What to look for. What questions to ask. What to be sceptical of. Developed from real reporting scenarios.
Bonus 3 — The Headline Audit Template (Value: £37)
A pre-publication checklist for any story involving international legal claims. Run it before you file — it catches the errors that create corrections and credibility damage before they reach your editor.
Bonus 4 — 30-Day Email Access (Value: £97) THINK ABOUT THIS
For 30 days after the course, you can submit one written legal clarification query per week directly to Dr Yusra Suedi. Responses within 3 working days. For the questions that come up once you’re back in the newsroom applying what you’ve learned.
Total bonus value: £208
Free with any tier of the SAIL Intensive
Questions?
Get in touch: hello@learnsail.org.