Senior Legal Officer (S2)

General Minimum Requirements

The general minimum requirements for working with the OSCE are:

• Excellent physical condition
• Possession of a valid automobile driving license and ability to drive using manual transmission
• Ability to cope with physical hardship and willingness to work extra hours and in an environment with limited infrastructure 

Field of Expertise Requirements

The general minimum requirements for working in this field of expertise are: 

• First-level university degree in law or significant work experience in criminal justice and/or law enforcement (the latter required for police corrections officer training)
• Experience in the practice of law, e.g. judges, prosecutors, lawyers, etc.
• Knowledge of courtroom proceedings and criminal law and procedure
• Knowledge of international legal procedure standards and instruments
• Demonstrable organizational, analytical, communication and interpersonal skills

Level of Professional Competence Requirements

Furthermore, this level of responsibility requires the following:

Education:

First-level university degree in a relevant field

Experience:

Minimum 6 years of relevant professional experience

Mission Specific Requirements

Additionally, this particular post has specific requirements:

Mandatory:

• First level university or graduate degree in law;
• Knowledge of justice and human rights institutions;
• Knowledge of civil, criminal and administrative law, and international human rights treaties, including those related to fair trial standards;
• Professional fluency in the English language;
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity to local conditions and communities;
• Flexibility and ability to work under pressure and within limited time frames;
• Strong legal analytical and writing skills;
• Strong communication and negotiation skills;
• Staff management experience;
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to work as a member of a team, with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds, different genders, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity.
• Ability to operate Windows applications; 
• Possession of a valid automobile driving license. 

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the regional political situation and legal system in the Mission area;
• Experience with trial monitoring;
• Experience with legal aid, legal education reform, human rights issues, and/or domestic violence
• Knowledge of the local languages;
• Experience as an attorney, judge or prosecutor;
• New hires will be requested to pass an OMIK-administered driving test using a manual transmission vehicle within six months of assuming the post. 

Tasks and Responsibilities

The Senior Legal Officer (SLO) (Field) is supervised by the Director of the Regional Centre (RC) with programmatic supervision by the Chief of the Law and Justice Section (LJS) in Mission headquarters. The primary obligation of the SLO is to implement LJS programmatic activities, but s/he is also expected to support the work of the five Regional Centres. The successful candidate will be tasked with the following duties:

1. Supervising local staff who monitor civil, criminal or administrative court proceedings for compliance with applicable international human rights and fair trial standards;
2. Directly monitoring court proceedings for compliance with fair trial and human rights standards;
3. Ensuring timely communication of trial monitoring data, including fair trial concerns, to LJS HQ.
4. Supervising local staff who work under the Rule of Law and the Access to Justice Portfolios within LJS, and ensuring accurate and timely reporting to HQ through the LJS database or other methods to ensure implementation of LJS activities;
5. Identifying and reporting on systemic justice sector trends and human rights shortcomings to LJS HQ and to the RC Director based on monitoring work.
6. Organizing roundtables, workshops and other targeted interventions to discuss or implement LJS trial monitoring reports or address legal or human rights concerns;
7. Organizing roundtables or workshops to support Access to Justice topics, including domestic violence, legal aid, legal education reform, and the Ombudsperson Institution;
8. Suggesting, supporting and/or drafting trial monitoring and other reports, as requested by LJS HQ or the RC Director;
9. Timely responding to information requests from LJS HQ or the RC Director;
10. Participating in the daily management of the Regional Centre and carrying out tasks as assigned by the Regional Centre Director;
11. Performing other duties as requested. 

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, please see: https://www.osce.org/mission-in-kosovo

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages the nomination of qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, ethnic and social backgrounds. Please note that nationals or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are not eligible to apply.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment, to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered. 

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/. If your participating State does not provide the option to apply online for seconded positions, you are kindly requested to submit your offline application form available at https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/offline-application-form to the respective OSCE delegation whose address can be found at https://www.osce.org/contacts/delegations.

Please apply to your relevant authorities well in advance of the deadline expiration to ensure timely processing of your application. Delayed nominations will not be considered. The OSCE can only process Secondment applications that have been nominated by participating States. For queries relating to your application, please refer to the respective delegation as listed here: https://www.osce.org/contacts/delegations. 

Please be aware that OSCE appointments are subject to medical clearance. 

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.