Assistant Lawyer - Spain

CoE - Council of Europe

Strasbourg, France

Reference: e024/2024
Deadline: 13/05/2024

Are you a young law graduate who wants to gain experience in an international Organisation working for human rights, democracy and the rule of law? Do you want to help the European Court of Human Rights to ensure respect for the human rights of 700 million Europeans? Does dealing with applications alleging violations of the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights interest you? If so, this Programme may be the right opportunity for you.

Who we are

With over 2200 staff representing all its 46 member States, the Council of Europe is a multicultural Organisation. We all strive towards protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law and our three core values - professionalism, integrity and respect - guide the way we work.

The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in the member States. Individuals can bring complaints of human rights violations to the Strasbourg Court once all possibilities of appeal have been exhausted in the member State concerned. See the Court’s website for information about its activities.

The Council of Europe has its headquarters in Strasbourg (France) and has external presence in more than twenty countries. See here for more information about the Council of Europe external presence.

Your role

As an Assistant Lawyer, you will assist more senior members of staff in the preparation of correspondence with applicants and draft decisions in standard form cases. You will:

examine and deal with applications in prima facie inadmissible cases and in cases which can be dealt with in a standard manner;
draft decisions, minutes, reports, notes and other documents;
attend the Court’s sessions and present applications;
assist one or more experienced case-lawyers, where necessary, in the preparation of Chamber cases for examination by the Court.

The Junior Professional Programme opens the Council of Europe’s doors to people at the start of their career, giving them an opportunity to gain experience working with this pan-European institution. At the Court, you will benefit from regular working contact with experienced members of the Registry and with the judges. While dealing with individual applications originating from your own legal system and assisting senior colleagues in handling more complex applications, you benefit from the Registry’s in-house training programme and deepen your knowledge of the functioning of the European Court of Human Rights and the Convention case-law. The length of employment of Junior Professionals is limited to a maximum of four years under this scheme.

What we are looking for

As a minimum you must:

have a higher education 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 Spain; the “Grado en derecho” degree must have been obtained in Spain;
after having obtained the relevant higher education degree in law, have a maximum of two years of relevant professional experience acquired in the legal field (preferably in the judicial service) in Spain or in international Organisations;
have a very good knowledge of one of the two official languages of the Council of Europe (English, French) and the ability to draft legal texts therein clearly and precisely; excellent knowledge of Spanish (mother tongue level);
be a citizen of one of the member States of the Council of Europe and fulfil the conditions for appointment to the civil service of that State;
have discharged any obligation concerning national service (military, civil or comparable);
not be the parent, child, stepchild or grandchild of a serving staff member of the Council of Europe;
be under 35 years of age at the closing of the deadline for submission of applications for this vacancy notice.

Demonstrate to us that you have the following competencies:

Professional and technical expertise:
- thorough knowledge of the Spanish legal system and ability to handle cases arising in other jurisdictions;
- knowledge of European Union law and of international law.
Drafting skills;
Concern for quality;
Planning and work organisation;
Analysis and problem solving;
Learning and development;
Teamwork and co-operation;
Adaptability.

These would be an asset:

Results orientation;
Communication;
Decision making;
Initiative.

What we offer

If successful, you may be offered employment based on renewable fixed-term contracts for a maximum cumulated duration of four years at grade B3. You will receive a basic monthly gross salary of €4107 which is exempt from national income tax.

The deadline for applications is 13 May 2024 (midnight Central European Time). Applications must be made in English or French using the Council of Europe online application system.

For more information on how to apply, please click the Apply button.

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