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Rule of Law Officer OSCE/ODIHR Warsaw

This position is open for secondment only and participating States are kindly reminded that all costs in relation to assignment at OSCE/ODIHR must be borne by their authorities.

Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered. Seconded staff members in the OSCE Secretariat and Institutions are not entitled to a Board and Lodging Allowance payable by the Organization.

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is the principal institution of the OSCE responsible for the human dimension. The ODIHR's activities are implemented in 56 participating States in accordance with the ODIHR's political mandate. ODIHR has a large number of assistance projects in the areas of democratic institution building, the rule of law and human rights, as well as election observation.

The purpose of the Rule of Law Unit is to strengthen the supremacy and legitimacy of law in compliance with OSCE principles and international law within the human dimension. Towards that end, the Rule of Law Unit conducts projects within four broad thematic programmatic components: Criminal Justice, Institutional Support, Administrative Justice, and Institutional Memory of OSCE field missions. In addition to the project activities, the Rule of Law Unit provides advice and assistance to ongoing ODIHR work throughout the OSCE Region.

Tasks and Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Chief, Rule of Law Unit, the incumbent will perform the following duties:

Developing, implementing and evaluating ODIHR activities in the field of rule of law with a focus on independence of the judiciary, criminal justice reform, strengthening the capacity of legal institutions, legislative assistance and improving access to fair trials, including the management of administrative and financial aspects of programmatic activities;
Providing legal advice and expertise to the ODIHR, the OSCE Institutions and field operations, with a specific focus on creating a centre of competence for the benefit of OSCE field operations on human dimension areas related to the rule of law;
Co-ordinating and undertaking research, analysis and assessments on specific rule of law issues with a focus on independence of the judiciary, developments in the criminal justice sector and reform/strengthening the capacity of judicial institutions;
Representing ODIHR at international conferences, seminars and expert meetings on rule of law development work, including providing expertise and presentations on ODIHR rule of law activities;
Following political and legal developments in selected OSCE participating States, and providing briefings to ODIHR management and OSCE officials on rule of law issues, including presentations at regular ODIHR human dimension events;
Administering and implementing rule of law projects and activities, including their monitoring and evaluation;
Providing rule of law advice and expertise to ODIHR management and the OSCE field operations in the designated areas of responsibility;
Developing and maintaining regular contacts with legal professionals, project partners, and OSCE participating State stakeholders in the justice system;
Performing other related duties as assigned.

Necessary Qualifications
University degree in law, with specialization in public international law, constitutional law or comparative government structures; knowledge of human rights and democracy-building issues would be an asset;
Minimum of six years of professional work experience, in law, rule of law development or policy issues relating to law, and at least three years of experience specifically in rule of law development in a country in transition to democracy;
Knowledge of criminal justice systems; knowledge of the functioning of political institutions and Government offices;
Excellent knowledge of English with good drafting skills, knowledge of Russian or other OSCE working languages would be an asset;
Political intuition; strong organizational and analytical skills; resourcefulness, initiative and maturity of judgement;
Ability to work with minimum supervision;
Ability to advise high-level officials on the rule of law and legal policy issues;
Ability to work with people of different nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds;
Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities.

This post is open for secondment. Candidates are requested to apply through the OSCE desk of the respective Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Delayed nominations will not be considered.

Please note that vacancies in the OSCE are open for competition only amongst nationals of participating States, please see http://www.osce.org/who/83.

The OSCE is committed to achieving a better balance of women and men within the Organization. The nomination of female candidates is particularly encouraged.

The OSCE is a non-career organization committed to the principle of staff rotation.
No application fees or information with respect to bank account details are required by OSCE for our recruitment process.