Legal Officer (P-3)

24378 | Judiciary

A roster of suitable candidates will be established for this post as a result of this selection process for fixed-term appointments against both established posts and positions funded by general temporary assistance (GTA).

This recruitment for a roster of Legal Officers (P-3) to be deployed in any of the three judicial Divisions.

Organizational Context

Under articles 34(b) and 36(1) of the Rome Statute, the Chambers are composed of 18 judges, distributed between three divisions: Pre­Trial, Trial and Appeals. The Presidency decides on the assignment of judges to judicial divisions following consultation with them, assigns situations and cases to the Pre­Trial and Trial Divisions, and manages the overall budgetary and staffing requirements of the Judiciary as a whole.

Pre­Trial Division

The Pre­Trial Division handles all requests regarding either the initiation of an investigation or the preservation of evidence during the investigation and the entire first phase of judicial proceedings, up to the confirmation of the charges on which the case against the person(s) charged proceeds to trial.

The Pre-Trial Division is composed of not less than six judges. The Judges of the President Division elect from amongst their members a President of the Division, who oversees its administration. The judicial functions in the Pre-Trial Division are carried out by Pre-Trial Chambers composed of three judges or by a single judge. In each Pre-Trial Chamber, the judges decide on a presiding judge.

Legal and administrative staff is assigned to a Division and its judges to support their work. The legal staff provides assistance to each Chamber and is led by the Legal Adviser.

Trial Division

The Trial Division is composed of the Trial Chambers, whose mandate is to conduct trials, following confirmation of charges by the Pre­Trial Chambers. The mandate continues until the conclusion of the reparation phase. In conducting the trials, the Chambers are required to ensure, in accordance with article 64 of the Rome Statute, that a trial is fair and expeditious and is conducted with full respect for the rights of the accused and due regard for the protection of victims and witnesses.

Appeals Division

The principal statutory function of the Appeals Chamber is to hear final appeals against decisions on acquittal or conviction and sentence, and potentially reparations at the end of a trial, as well as interlocutory appeals against certain decisions of the Pre­Trial and Trial Chambers made in the course of proceedings.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Head of Chambers’ Staff and the direct supervision of the respective Division Legal Adviser, and within a Chamber's legal team as the case may be, the Legal Officer:

1. Provides specialised independent legal advice through the performance of the following tasks:

• Conducts in depth legal research in international criminal law, humanitarian law, human rights law and other relevant bodies of law, on both procedural and substantive issues, and supervising of legal research.
• Prepares memoranda and drafts of decisions and orders, either alone or in conjunction with others, and reviews memoranda and drafts prepared by others.
• Maintains files of the Court's practice, monitors and ensures that the judges are informed of relevant developments in international law and practice.

2. Provides support to the Chambers through the performance of the following tasks:

• Coordinates a Chamber’s legal team and supervises the work of more junior staff members/interns.
• As part of a Chamber's team, coordinates and manages the case and evidence.
• Anticipates procedural issues that may arise in the course of judicial proceedings and apprises the Judge accordingly.
• Attends court hearings and liaises with the different actors in the proceedings in order to ensure the smooth preparation of the hearing.
• Provides liaison between the different divisions and chambers of the Court, other organs of the Court and the public, as the case may be.
• Performs any other legal tasks as required by the Chamber's Judges and/or the respective Division’s Legal Adviser.

Essential Qualifications

Education:

Advanced university degree in law, preferably with a specialisation in international, criminal or humanitarian law is required. A first level degree in combination with two additional years of progressively relevant experience is accepted in lieu of advanced university degree.

Experience:

A minimum of five years (seven years with a first level university degree) of progressively responsible legal experience in either international criminal law, humanitarian law, or criminal law is required.

Skills and abilities:

• Excellent knowledge of international criminal law and good knowledge of criminal law and procedure of the Common Law and Romano-Germanic systems of law; in depth knowledge of international human rights law and/or international humanitarian law would be an asset.
• Work experience at an international court or in a national criminal legal environment, and/or demonstrated knowledge of the legal texts and the practice of the Court.
• Proven ability to conduct comprehensive legal research and in-depth analysis of evidence and to draft to a high standard; experience in reviewing drafts prepared by others would be considered an asset.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Awareness of and sensitivity to the specific circumstances of an international criminal court.
• Ability to work well within a team of international lawyers from diverse legal backgrounds; experience in coordinating the work of a team would be considered an asset.
• Proven ability to work well under pressure and meet strict deadlines.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Experience in working with a computer, search engines, databases and e-court applications.

Knowledge of languages:

Fluency in either of the working languages of the Court, English or French, is essential. Working knowledge of the other is desirable. Knowledge of another official language of the Court (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish) would be considered an asset.

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Learning and developing
Handling uncertain situations
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General Information

- Candidates appointed to posts at a P-5 grade or in the Director category are subject to a maximum aggregate length of service of seven years. This is pursuant to a decision of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP Resolution ICC-ASP/23/Res.2) to implement a tenure policy at the Court as of 1 January 2025.

- The selected candidate will be subject to a Personnel Security Clearance (PSC) process in accordance with ICC policy. The PSC process will include but will not be limited to, verification of the information provided in the personal history form and a criminal record check.

- Applicants may check the status of vacancies on ICC E-Recruitment web-site.

- Post to be filled by a national of a State Party to the ICC Statute, or of a State which has signed and is engaged in the ratification process or which is engaged in the accession process. This is pursuant to a decision of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP Resolution ICC-ASP/23/Res.3) to introduce a moratorium on the recruitment by the ICC of staff of non-States Parties’ nationality.

- In accordance with the Rome Statute, the ICC aims to achieve fair representation of women and men for all positions, representation of the principal legal systems of the world for legal positions, and equitable geographical representation for positions in the professional category.

- Applications from female candidates are particularly encouraged.

- The International Criminal Court applies the Inter-Organization Mobility Accord and can support secondment of staff from organizations of the United Nations Common System.