Legal Associate

Our primary purpose at UNHCR is to safeguard the rights and well-being of people who have been forced to flee. Together with partners and communities, we work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country. We also strive to secure lasting solutions.

For over half a century, UNHCR has helped millions of people to restart their lives. They include refugees, returnees, stateless people, the internally displaced and asylum-seekers. Our protection, shelter, health and education has been crucial, healing broken pasts and building brighter futures.

As of 1 May 2025, 184,499 refugees from Ukraine have been recorded in Romania. The Government of Romania and UNHCR have been actively responding since the onset of the emergency, both at the borders and in areas where refugees are settling. Close collaboration and policy coordination with the government are maintained at national and local levels. Through the Inter-Agency Refugee Coordination Model and the Refugee Response Plan, UNHCR, in partnership with UN agencies and NGOs, supports the government's refugee response, ensuring full harmonization and complementarity both at central and local level. UNHCR Romania has its Country Office in Bucharest, together with a Field Office in Timisoara (where the Emergency Transit Centre is established).

The Legal Associate will be under the direct supervision of the Assistant Protection Officer, under the overall coordination of the Senior Protection Officer in UNHCR Romania. Part of the wider protection team in UNHCR Romania’s Country Office in Bucharest, the legal sub-team led by the Assistant Protection Officer focuses on access to the territory, access to fair and efficient asylum procedures, access to temporary protection status, access to rights through documentation and the national social protection system, and statelessness. The Unit monitors legislative changes that have an impact on asylum-seekers, beneficiaries of international protection, temporary protection holders and statelessness, and oversees legal aid, cooperation with the judiciary, bar associations, and the wider legal community. The Unit also collaborates with academia and provides support to the Protection Working Group, an interagency coordination forum of more than 35 organizations engaged in the protection response for persons displaced from Ukraine.

The Legal Associate will prepare legal analyses required for quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of forcibly displaced and stateless people. This essential task involves staying abreast of any legislative changes or initiatives relevant to UNHCR’s mandate and to support the timely intervention in strategic situations. Another important function of the position is to support the team in the engagement with central and local authorities that have mandates in refugee protection, public administration and legislative/parliamentary activities. Additionally, the Legal Associate is expected to support capacity strengthening activities for central and local state authorities in the area of protection, either directly or in cooperation with partners. S/he will also be involved in directly assisting cases reaching UNHCR, including but not limited to support to UNHCR helpline operators and responses to e-mail queries from displaced persons. S/he will also support the supervisor in monitoring funded legal partnership(s) and ensure optimal cooperation with operational partners. The Legal Associate will actively participate in multi-functional teams, jointly with other units of the operation. The staff member needs to demonstrate strong inter-personal and communication skills and possess excellent analytical and English and Romanian drafting skills. He/she is able to establish positive work relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, while also being a result oriented and proactive team-worker.

Within the delegated authority and under the direct supervision of the Assistant Protection Officer in Bucharest, the Legal Associate will:

· Monitor the development of law and doctrine, including but not limited to those relating to asylum-seekers, beneficiaries of international protection, beneficiaries of temporary protection, the prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons, and access to rights for all categories of persons under UNHCR’s mandate.

· Analyse, relevant emerging national legislation and policies and their compliance with relevant regional and international legal principles and UN policies and standards.

· Carry out legal research as needed to contribute to and develop legal comments and other legal documents and position papers.

· Liaise with relevant state authorities at central and local levels, partner NGOs and other relevant stakeholders.

· Provide guidance and support in the formulation and implementation of protection strategies, including but not limited to engagement with legal professions (lawyers, judges), academia (students, professors), and members of the Parliament.

· Support in drafting communications, liaising and intervening with local authorities on legal issues pertaining to forcibly displaced and stateless people.

· Act as a back-up for the Quality Assurance Mechanism relating to the quality of asylum procedures in Romania.

· Prepare, conduct and contribute to events and trainings related to international protection, demonstrating the ability to summarize and present legal provisions in understandable terms, including for a non-legal audience

· Prepare analytical notes, talking points, and presentations on UNHCR Romania’s advocacy priority areas.

· Assist in handling and ensuring timely follow-up of individual cases and situations raising special questions of application or interpretation of international law, refugee and human rights law.

· Support the monthly meetings and follow up on agreements reached at the Protection Working Group.

· Consistently apply international and national law and UNHCR policies and standards.

· Perform other related duties as required.