Volunteer Legal Advisors - Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Peru

Duration: Eight to eighteenn months

Starting date: Colombia, Guatemala, Ivory Coast (as soon as possible), Honduras and Peru (March/April 2018)

Working language: Spanish (Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru) or French (Ivory Coast)

Conditions: The mandates are of a voluntary nature. All costs related to the assignment (food, housing, insurance, airplane tickets) are covered by the program. The mandate is unaccompanied. The costs related to the company of a spouse or kids are not covered. The volunteers must participate in pre-departure training and preparation sessions.

Other conditions: This call is open to all candidates. Some mandates can be recognised as an international internship for the École du Barreau du Québec and a priority will be given to the candidates who are eligible to those internships. If a candidate of the École du Barreau du Québec is selected, he or she will be granted a scholarship of 15 000$. The costs covered by the program will then be adjusted accordingly. For Bar internships, the duration of a mandate is 11 months (8 on the field and 3 in Quebec City, at LWBC’s Head Office).

Context

The Project « Protection of children, women and other vulnerable communities » (PRODEF) is implemented by a Consortium composed of Lawyers Without Borders Canada (LWBC) and the International bureau for children’s rights (IBCR) within the framework of the Voluntary cooperation program financed by Global Affairs Canada. It aims to improve the protection of rights of children, women, poor and marginalized communities as well as strengthening democracy and the rule of law through access to justice.

As part of the Project, volunteers are deployed to support and help strengthen the capacity of local partners, mainly civil society organizations working in the field of human rights.

Security

The security of the volunteers and others collaborators is the main concern of LWBC and its partners. Several measures and security protocols are applied by the local personnel, the expatriates, the volunteers and the personnel involved in short-term missions.

The selected candidates will be formed on safety and will have to commit to the respect of the different measures and protocols. Because the activities are executed only if there are sufficient guaranties and if the conditions are optimal, the Consortium can postpone or annul the deployment of the selected volunteers, particularly on security grounds.

Position description

The volunteer legal advisors are called upon to perform various legal tasks linked to human rights. While some volunteers particularly contribute to the documentation, the analysis of the issues related to human rights and the drafting of thematic reports, others participate in the proposition of legal reforms, analyse jurisprudence or are implicated in cases of strategic litigation that are brought before national and international tribunals and bodies. More practically, the volunteers can be required to complete the following tasks:

• Carry out research and analysis, and participate in the drafting of legal documents on the issues of human rights, children rights, international criminal law, transitional justice, international humanitarian law, gender justice or sexual violence;
• Contribute to the preparation of the necessary documentation needed for a participation to the thematic hearings before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights;
• Analyze jurisprudence and systematize the information properly;
• Organise training workshops destined to civil society as well as public officials;
• Coordinate the collection, analysis and triangulation of information for the preparation of documents;
• Participate in advocacy activities with the authorities;
• Carry out legal research related to specific cases of serious human rights violations;
• Analyse issues and participate in the development of legal strategies and arguments;
• Participate in the documentation and systematization of cases, including in the organization and the classification of the evidence;
• Take part in meetings with various stakeholders involved in cases at Bar (lawyers, representatives of the attorney general's office, victims, etc.);
• Attend hearings of identified cases;
• Participate in the drafting of documents submitted to national courts or international bodies;
• Write articles on the legal work performed (mainly for the LWBC website);
• Support the straightening of organizational capacities, through work organisation, information management, communications, etc.

Qualifications

• University education in law;
• Good knowledge of international criminal law and/or human rights law and/or international humanitarian law and/or gender justice and sexual violence and/or transitional justice;
• Good knowledge of the Inter-American human rights system;
• Interest in promoting and defending human rights as well as enforcing the members of civil society;
• Strong skills in written composition and legal research;
• Ability to quickly assimilate domestic law concepts in order to harmonize them with knowledge of national or international law;
• Fluency in spoken and written Spanish (Hispanic countries)/French;
• Ability to adapt to the sometimes difficult working conditions and situations (restrictive security measures, limited resources, logistical difficulties, work under pressure etc.);
• Ability to work as a member of a team;
• Ability to integrate various work environments;
• Willingness to travel within the country of deployment;
• Basic computer skills (Word, Excel, Outlook);
• Absolut respect for confidentiality.

Assets

• Masters or doctorate degree in law;
• Previous experience in similar functions;
• Proficiency in English and/or French and/or Spanish;
• Previous experience with communities or vulnerable groups;
• Previous work experience in Latin America/in Western Africa or knowledge of the social, economic and legal contexts in developing countries or those in post conflict situations.

Eligibility requirements

• Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
• Be covered by the health care insurance plan provided by a province or by a private plan;
• Be available to attend a pre-departure training session.

Interested candidates should submit their application (cover letter and curriculum vitae) in French (Ivory Coast) and in Spanish (Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru) before Sunday, February 4th 2017 at 23:59, by completing the online form available at the following address: www.cooperationvolontaireasfcibcr.com in the section « Apply ». Please make sure to submit your application for the position: « Volunteer Legal Advisors – Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Ivory Coast and Peru ».

We thank every candidate for their interest. However, we will only be contacting the candidates selected for the interviews.