Visiting Professional – Office of Public Counsel for Victims, The Hague – NL

Registry | 22623

Organisational Unit:

Office of Public Counsel for Victims, Registry

Duty Station:

The Hague – NL

Contract Duration:

Deadline for Applications:

6 Months

31 December 2022

Due to the volume of applications received, only successful applicants will be contacted by the Court.

Required Documents for This Application

Please note that you will need to have the following information ready in order to complete your application:

• A completed “Duties and Responsibilities Form” (refer to step 1 on your eRecruitment Profile page)
• Motivation letter (maximum of 400 words)

• One reference letter

Contract Duration

The visiting professionals are required to work full time for a period of six months (dates to be agreed to prior to commencement).

Organisational Context

The Statute of the International Criminal Court establishes an internationally new and unique system for the participation of victims in the proceedings before the Court. In addition, the Statute also provides victims with the right to apply for reparation for the harm suffered as a result of crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court. Due to the complexity of procedures governing the functioning of the Court, victims are represented and assisted by lawyers.

For the purpose of assisting victims with regard to their participation in proceedings and obtaining reparations, regulation 81 of the Regulations of the Court has established the Office of Public Counsel for Victims that falls within the Registry solely for administrative purposes and otherwise shall function as a wholly independent office. Members of the Office act as legal representative of victims and assist external legal representatives. In performing their tasks, members of the Office act independently and are bound by the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of a legal officer, the incumbent will perform the following tasks: (a) Assist in drafting legal memoranda and produce researches on a wide range of complex legal issues;

(b) Prepare factual background documents on the situations and cases before the Court;

(c) Assist in drafting legal opinions;

(d) Undertake ad hoc legal assignments as requested.

Required Qualifications

Education: All Candidates must have a law degree (preferably in criminal law, public international law, humanitarian law, human rights law, or comparative law) from a recognized university. Candidates are expected to have a very good record of academic performance.

Experience: Visiting Professional placements focus on candidates who have extensive experience in their professional careers in relevant fields of work.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Able to adapt to multicultural and multilingual working environments.
• Possesses strong teamwork skills (listens, consults and communicates proactively).
• Has acquired a good standard of computer skills (including Microsoft Office applications).

Knowledge of Languages: Proficiency in one of the working languages of the Court, French or English, is required. Working knowledge of the other is desirable. Knowledge of another official language of the Court (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) or of a local language of a situation country (Swahili, Lingala, Acholi, etc.) is an asset.

Other criteria: It is the Court’s objective to have diversity and gender balance. In line with the ICC’s efforts to improve geographical representation among staff, nationals of non-represented and under-represented countries at the ICC are encouraged to apply. The list can be found here.

Remuneration

Please note that the ICC is not able to provide all participants in the Internship and Visiting Professional Programme with remuneration, nor is it possible to provide reimbursement for expenses incurred during the internship or visiting professional placement. Applicants should therefore be able to support themselves for the duration of their internship or placement.

Limited funding may, however, be available through the ICC’s Trust Fund for the Development of Interns and Visiting Professionals, which receives donations from States Parties and other donors to fund nationals of States Parties from developing regions. These donations are equally divided between the four Organs of the Court.

If funding is available, the Human Resources Section shall assess a candidate’s eligibility in accordance with the terms of reference of the Trust Fund as agreed by the donors.

In order to be eligible, the applicant must, among other criteria, be a national from a country that is a State Party to the Rome Statue and appears on the United Nations Statistics Division’s list of developing regions.

Candidates eligible for funding shall receive detailed information and further instructions after the selection process is finalized. Stipends will always be agreed at the time of offering the internship. No funding will be provided at a later stage.