Legal Officer, Leidschendam, The Netherlands 349 views

Legal Officer

Vacancy Ref: TVA-NL-OTR-VPU-P3-963

Deadline for Applications: 14 December 2019

Issuance Date: 15 November 2019

Location: Leidschendam

Organ / Section: REGISTRY

/ Victims Participation Unit

Post Level: P-3

This announcement is an open call to fill a Roster of qualified Legal Officers. Candidates will be interviewed before being admitted to the Roster. A Legal Officer may be selected from the Roster or may be re-interviewed.

The Legal Officer selected will be hired as staff member to the Victims Participation Unit for the duration of case but will work directly with the Victims’ Counsel.

Depending on professional background, experience and family situation, a competitive compensation and benefits package will be offered. The successful applicant will be offered a fixed-term appointment of one-year duration or until 31 December 2020, limited to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (Tribunal). This appointment and any subsequent extension(s) will be subject to terms of the Tribunal’s mandate and/or the availability of funds.

The Tribunal is an international inter-governmental organization with its own independent legal identity and not a United Nations (UN) organization. However, the Tribunal follows the UN common system of salaries, allowances and benefits to its staff members. UN staff members may also serve on loan from their parent department/office, if selected.

A roster of suitable candidates may be established for this particular profile as a result of this selection process for both fixed-term established and general temporary assistance posts.

The recruitment process may include a pre-screening exercise, written tests and competency-based interviews.

It is not necessary at this stage to send copies of qualifications, previous employment contracts, entire publications, etc.

Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Only candidates who are under serious consideration will be contacted. The Tribunal is not in a position to respond to queries regarding information on the status of vacancies.

The Registrar reserves the right not to make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description. All applications will be handled with strictest confidentiality.

• The English version of this vacancy announcement is authentic. The French and Arabic versions, if available, are not official translations and are provided for information purposes only.

Responsibilities

Working directly with and under the supervision of the Victims’ Counsel before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the incumbent performs a wide range of legal functions, for example:

• Review, advise on and draft legal and factual written or oral submissions to the court during the pre-trial, trial and appeals phases of the proceedings.
• Conduct extensive legal research and analysis on a diverse range of assigned issues in Lebanese and international criminal law and criminal procedure and other area(s) of specialization including laws on terrorism using multiple legal research (electronic) tools.
• Assist the Victim’s Counsel in setting and implementing a case strategy, drafting the General Case Approach and Periodic Case Plans as well as resource requirements as requested by the VPU.
• Prepare and update the case record for trial, ensuring efficient and complete logging of disclosure of documents and other material, summarizing and analyzing filings, evidentiary material, witness statements and other relevant material.
• Assess or assist the Victims’ Counsel with the assessment of the relevance or admissibility of evidence.
• Assist the Victims’ Counsel during court proceedings, and appear in judicial hearings, status conferences etc. where appropriate and permitted.
• Maintain effective communication with clients with the support of the VPU, and ensure they are kept abreast of judicial and procedural developments; organise and participate in missions to meet with clients, and assist the Registry in facilitating visits of clients to the Tribunal.
• Prepare and take witness statements and collect supporting documents related to clients.
• Identify, prepare and manage the disclosure of documents and the presentation of exhibits.
• During the proceedings, maintain an effective command of the evidence presented in court, using a variety of (electronic) tools, such as Legal Workflow.
• Manage and supervise the work of the Trial Support Assistant (GSOL 6) and intern(s).

• Tags

  criminal justice

  criminal law

  criminal procedure

  international criminal law

  legal research

• Act as OiC where appropriate and where the LRV is absent.
• Perform other duties as required by the Victims’ Counsel.

Knowledge and Skills

• Professionalism: Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
• Planning and Organising: Ability to establish priorities, coordinate with others and handle a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner.
• Teamwork: Good interpersonal skills, willingness to provide guidance and share knowledge with more junior staff, ability to encourage cooperation in a multi-cultural environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity. Ability to work collaboratively with other organs and units across the STL, the VPU in particular.
• Accountability: Ability to work well and consistently, while observing strict deadlines.
• Communication: Ability to write in a clear and concise fashion and to communicate effectively orally.
• Technological Awareness: Good ability to work with computers. Proficiency in MS Office applications (e.g. MS Word, Excel) and other IT applications.
• Creativity: Actively seeks to improve programmes or services; offers new and different options to solve problems or meet counsel’s needs; takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas.
• Judgment/decision-making: Indentifies key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly.

Qualifications

• Education: Advanced university degree in law, with a focus on criminal or international criminal law. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Admission to practice in a national jurisdiction would be considered a strong asset.
• Work Experience: A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible professional legal experience with emphasis on (international) criminal law, (7 years with a first-level university degree). Knowledge of and/or experience in Lebanese criminal law is a strong asset. Experience working with victims or vulnerable persons and experience supervising more junior staff would also be considered assets.
• Languages: Arabic, English and French are the official languages of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. For this post, fluency in oral and written English or French is required. Good knowledge of the other would be considered an asset. Knowledge of Arabic is also considered a strong asset.
• Other: Strong organizational, drafting, and interpersonal skills; proven ability to conduct comprehensive legal analysis; proven ability to work well under pressure and meet strict deadlines; knowledge of international criminal justice systems highly desirable.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon