European Court of Human Rights
2 Vacancies, Assistant Lawyer
Strasbourg, 2012

The European Court of Human Rights is looking for an Assistant Lawyer - Azerbeidjan and an Assistant Lawyer - Latvia under its Assistant Lawyers' Scheme. The Assistant Lawyers’ Scheme opens the doors of the European Court of Human Rights to legal professionals at the start of their career, giving them an opportunity to gain experience working within this European institution. They will benefit from regular working contact with experienced case lawyers, senior managers and the judges themselves. While dealing with individual applications originating from their own legal system and assisting senior colleagues in handling more complex applications, assistant lawyers benefit from the Registry’s in-house training programme and deepen their knowledge of the functioning of the European Court of Human Rights and the Convention case-law. The Scheme serves the twofold objective of bringing new talent to the Registry and contributing to greater awareness and understanding of the Convention in the legal profession throughout Europe as assistant lawyers advance in their careers elsewhere.

Location

Strasbourg, Registry of the European Court of Human Rights.

Required Nationality
Any member state of the Council of Europe

Contract and term
Fixed-term contract. The total length of employment under fixed-term contracts at the European Court of Human Rights will not exceed four years.

Job mission
The principal duties of an assistant lawyer consist of assisting more senior members of staff in the preparation of correspondence with applicants and draft decisions in standard form cases.

Key Activities

Under the authority of the Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights and of a Head of a Division, the post-holder performs legal duties and is responsible for the following:

● examining and dealing with applications in prima facie inadmissible cases and in cases which can be dealt with in a standard manner;
● drafting decisions, minutes, reports, notes and other documents;
● advising applicants, in correspondence or, if necessary, in interviews, on the conditions of admissibility of applications;
● attending the Court’s sessions and presenting applications;
● assisting one or more experienced case-lawyers, where necessary, in the preparation of Chamber cases for examination by the Court.

Competencies

Professional and technical competencies

● university degree in law of a standard permitting access, either on the basis of qualifications or after passing a competitive examination, to the judicial administration or legal professions in Azerbaijan;
● some professional experience acquired in the legal field in Azerbaijan would be an advantage;
● thorough knowledge of the Azerbaijanese legal system and ability to handle cases arising in other jurisdictions;
● knowledge of constitutional and of international law;
● ICT skills: ability to use current ICT tools;
● planning and work organisation.

Communication and linguistic skills
● very good knowledge of one of the two official languages of the Council of Europe (English, French) and ability to draft legal texts therein clearly and precisely;
● excellent knowledge of Azerbaijanese (mother tongue level).

Interpersonal skills

● team work;
● co-operation.

Personal attitudes

● initiative;
● sense of responsibility;
● concern for quality;
● efficiency;
● accuracy.

Personal values:

● integrity, loyalty and conscience;
● discretion;
● independence and confidence;
● respect for diversity;
● commitment to the judicial independence of the Court.

Applications

Applications must be made in English or French using the Council of Europe on-line application system. By connecting to our website http://www.coe-recruitment.com you can create and submit your on-line application.

Deadline

6 July 2012

(midnight Central European Summer Time).