Senior Legal Adviser (P-5)

Organizational Context

The Office of the Prosecutor investigates and prosecutes genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression committed by nationals of or on the territory of a State Party under the Court’s jurisdiction on or after 1 July 2002.

The Legal Advisory Section (LAS) working with other parts of the OTP as necessary, responds to requests for legal advice from the Prosecutor and the OTP’s divisions, sections and teams. These requests concern the OTP’s investigations and prosecutions, core operations, the general functioning of the OTP as an independent organ and other internal matters.

LAS also facilitates the establishment and maintenance of the professional and ethical standards of the Office, coordinates the development of the Office’s internal regulatory framework, including the Operations Manual, and maintains the Office’s Code of Conduct.

Further, it leads the development and implementation of OTP policies on key issues identified by the Prosecutor. These have included the Office policy on sexual and gender-based crimes and the policy on children (adopted), as well as a new policy on cultural property (in progress). The Section also represents the Office in the development of Court-wide policies and administrative issuances.

Finally, LAS is responsible for the introduction of a lessons learned system to identify and implement good practices. It manages the maintenance and development of on-line legal tools, commentaries and databases for the Office, on which it also provides trainings, and the development and maintenance of a legal-academic network for the Office, including a series of Guest Lectures by external experts.

Duties and Responsabilities
Within delegated authority and under the direct supervision of the Prosecutor, the incumbent will be performing the following duties:

1. Manage the Legal Advisory Section of the Office and supervise the work and its staff;
2. Provide legal advice and support upon request to the Prosecutor, the Deputy Prosecutor, ExCom, the Directors of Divisions and the Heads of Sections, Units and teams;
3. Oversee the coordination of the development and maintenance of the Office’s internal regulatory framework; 
4. Oversee the coordination, on request of the Prosecutor, of the development and update of policy papers, working with inter-divisional teams and liaising with special advisors as required; 
5. Design, manage and implement, upon request of the Prosecutor, of specific legal training to Office staff, in particular as it concerns professional ethics and the regulatory framework of the Court governing staff conduct; 
6. Develop and/or maintain a standardised lessons learned process; and the establishment of performance, control and evaluation mechanisms for those areas; 
7. Represent the Office in the development and revision of relevant Court-wide policies and administrative issuances, and other regulatory instruments, in close collaboration with the Immediate Office and the OTP-HR Liaison. Work closely with the Registry Legal Office in such efforts;
8. Responsible for the development of legal-academic network for the Office, including organizing a series of guest lectures by external experts;
9. Advise the Prosecutor on staff-related labour matters, including individual cases involving litigation which require the application of, inter alia, the Staff Regulations and Rules as well as Administrative Instructions, in consultation with the Immediate Office and the OTP-HR liaison as needed;
10. Perform any other task as instructed by the Prosecutor.

Essential Qualifications
Education:

An advanced University degree in law, with emphasis on administrative and/or labour law, public international law, international criminal law or other related legal field is required.  A first level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience is accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

A minimum of ten (10) years (12 years with a first level university degree) of relevant and progressively responsible professional experience in the legal field, in the practice of criminal law, administrative and/or labour law or in work highly relevant to the work of the Section and the ICC is required.  At least five (5) years of the required experience must be at the international level or ten (10) years at the national level. 

Prior experience as an expert in a complex field of law with a proven track record in complex legal issues and ideally, litigation would be considered a strong asset.

Managerial and leadership experience is required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

1. In-depth knowledge of the ICC legal framework;
2. Excellent skills in research and drafting;
3. Ability to understand complex legal concepts, to apply the law to the facts;
4. Good analytical skills and ability to identify problems;
5. Excellent interpersonal skills and communication (written, spoken and presentational), including ability to present difficult issues and position with clarity;
6. Demonstrated intellectual leadership and managerial skills and ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives;
7. Ability to make quality decisions under extreme time constraints;
8. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with colleagues of different national and cultural backgrounds with appreciation of diversity;
9. Capability to work collaboratively and proactively with colleagues in order to achieve organizational goals and the timeliness of work;
10. Full proficiency in relevant software applications, in particular information databases, internet/intranet services, library sources;
11. Ability to work in a non-discriminatory manner, with respect for diversity; professional and personal integrity.

Knowledge of languages:
Proficiency in one of the working languages of the Court, English or French, and working knowledge of the other is required. Knowledge of another official language of the Court (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish) would be considered an asset. 

ICC Core Competencies

Dedication to the mission and values
- Acts consistently in accordance with the mission and values of the Organisation;
- Maintains confidentiality, acts with integrity and shows respect for diversity;
- Shows commitment to the organisation;
- Presents a positive image of the organisation during external discussions.

Professionalism
- Applies professional and technical expertise;
- Keeps abreast of organisational issues;
- Produces workable solutions to a range of problems.

Teamwork
- Listens, consults and communicates proactively;
- Handles disagreements with tact and diplomacy;
- Recognises and rewards the contribution of others.

Learning and developing
- Identifies development strategies needed to achieve work and career goals and makes use of developmental or training opportunities;
- Learns from successes and failures;
- Seeks feedback and gives feedback to others to increase organisational effectiveness;
- Seeks opportunities for improvement of work;
- Has an open mind and contributes to innovation.

Handling uncertain situations
- Adapts to changing circumstances;
- Deals with ambiguity, making positive use of the opportunities it presents;
- Plans activities and projects well in advance and takes account of possible changing circumstances;
- Manages time effectively.

Interaction
- Expresses opinions, information and key points of an argument clearly;
- Handles contacts with diplomacy and tact;
- Communicates in a transparent and open way with internal and external contacts while complying with confidentiality requirements.

Realising objectives
- Accepts and tackles demanding goals with enthusiasm;
- Keeps to agreements with others;
- Focuses on client needs;
- Takes responsibility for actions, projects and people;
- Monitors and maintains quality and productivity.

General Information

- In accordance with the Rome Statute, the ICC is committed to achieving geographical representation and gender equality within its staff as well as representation of the principal legal systems of the world (legal positions). Nationals from the list of non-represented and under-represented States are strongly encouraged to apply. In addition, applications from women are strongly encouraged for senior positions at the Professional (P) and Director (D) levels. Posts shall be filled preferably 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, but nationals from non-state parties may also be considered, as appropriate.

- 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.
- The Court reserves the right not to make any appointment to the vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description.