The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) seeks a legal director to lead the team of lawyers for its legal department to litigate Roma rights, ethnic/race discrimination and related cases in domestic, European and international courts and to devise and conduct training sessions for Central and East European lawyers in public interest litigation strategies and techniques.
The ERRC is a public interest law organisation that defends the human rights of Roma throughout Europe and serves as a legal resource centre for advocates working in this field. The ERRC pursues its objectives by engaging in legal representation, research, monitoring and reporting, human rights education and international advocacy. The ERRC's core legal work is to engage in impact litigation on behalf of Roma before both domestic and international courts.
The Position
The Legal Director develops and implements, in close cooperation with the Executive Director and senior staff, the legal strategy of the organisation. S/he coordinates and supervises the implementation of the legal activities, legal advocacy work, manages professional development of legal staff and ensures high quality performance of the organisation in cooperation with his/her legal staff. The Legal Director holds management responsibilities.
Key Responsibilities
• Drafting and implementing the legal strategy of the organisation in the Roma rights/ human rights field
• Staying abreast of developments in human rights jurisprudence, international and EU law
• Ensuring new strategic legal cases are identified and selected
• Ensuring highest quality possible for strategic cases carried forward by the ERRC and its partner organisations
• Monitoring progress of local and international cases
• Guiding the drafting, drafting and/or reviewing legal submissions to domestic and international judicial fora
• Supervising ERRC staff attorneys in giving legal advice and counsel to clients, local lawyers, and others
• Guiding locally contracted lawyers in domestic Roma rights litigation
• Regularly drafting and publishing articles and analysis papers on relevant legal concepts and strategic cases of the organisation (externally and internally)
• Contributing to human rights trainings offered by ERRC
• Networking with the legal and human rights community
• Representing ERRC at meetings, conferences, and international fora and tribunals
• Ensuring high quality and timely delivery of legal department work in accordance with the strategy and annual work programme
• Contributing to overall annual work programme design
• Designing and overseeing legal department budget and grant project budgets for which legal department has primary responsibility
• Ensuring information flow between legal and programmes and other departments
• Working with programmes department to plan and execute joint activities, in particular on legal review of programmes reports, advocacy and implementation of significant court decisions
• Proposing project activities, contributing to project-specific and core fundraising
• Contributing to donor reporting
• Supervising the staff of the legal department
Requirements
Education and knowledge
• University degree in law, favourably a postgraduate qualification in human rights law or related fields
• Bar exam and membership in national bar (Council of Europe member states preferred but not mandatory)
• Excellent understanding of human rights and non-discrimination law in the wider European region and in particular in the EU
• Excellent knowledge of international human rights instruments and bodies
• Knowledge of Roma rights related issues in Europe
Experience
• Extensive experience in litigating non-discrimination and/or human rights cases
• Extensive experience in human rights at international level or at national level
• Experience in a managerial position, supervising staff
Abilities and skills:
• Outstanding legal, analytical skills
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including legal drafting, oral and written presentation
• Organisational and management skills combined with leadership skills
• Ability to prioritise work, and meet tight deadlines
• Ability to work with organisations operating in a multiethnic and multicultural environment
• Sensitivity to working with Roma and minority groups
• Proficiency in written and spoken English
• Ability and willingness to travel as required
• Outstanding team player and supportive character
Desirable
• Work experience in the legal field of a non-governmental organisation
• Experience in working with intergovernmental structures in the human rights sector
• Experience in litigating Roma rights cases, for example in the areas of education, employment, housing, health care, the rights of women and children, torture and hate motivated crimes
• Work experience in the CEE region, especially with NGOs
• Human rights or legal training experience
• Proficiency in Romani language and/or other language of European countries with significant Roma population
Place of work
Budapest, Hungary
Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, salary history, together with an unedited English-language legal writing sample and a list of three referees by email, to: Hajnalka Nemeth hajnalka.nemeth@errc.org . Please mark the subject line: Name Surname – Legal Director Call.
Deadline for applications
As soon as possible and at the latest by 27 March 2013.
All applicants will be notified of our receipt of application; only selected applicants will be contacted. Short-listed candidates will be required to attend a formal interview. The job offer will be conditional upon the receipt of satisfactory references.
The ERRC is committed to equal opportunity for all. Romani candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.