Legal Officer – East and Central Africa

This is a part time post, 2.5 days per week, starting in September 2015 until 30th June 2018 in the first instance with possibility of extension. This post is based in at the MRG Africa Office in Kampala, Uganda.

Do you have at least two years’ experience of litigation at the national and international level, as well as project management? Have you had a major role in drafting legal documents in at least three international human rights cases? Do you have strong communication and organisational skills including a good working knowledge of French?

MRG is looking to recruit a Legal Officer focusing on East and Central Africa to help us achieve our mission to realise the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples around the world through the use of litigation, legal empowerment, legal tools and other advocacy. Specifically, the post-holder will work with local partners and lawyers to build communities’ legal skills, provide support for community-led litigation to address rights violations, enable activists to improve their advocacy, and pilot appropriate accountability mechanisms to increase decision-makers’ sensitivity to the concerns of marginalised minority groups. The postholder may also work on improving the knowledge of legal professionals on international standards and national laws that address or impact on minorities and indigenous peoples.

We are seeking an individual who has detailed knowledge of international human rights and minority rights law including economic and social rights, collective and individual rights, as well as standards relating to minority communities and indigenous peoples. Candidates should have good knowledge of the regional context in East and Central Africa and the continent more broadly, as well as experience designing and running legal training programmes.

A: Purpose of the job:

The main purpose of the job is to help MRG achieve its mission to realise the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples round the world, through the use of litigation, legal empowerment, legal tools and other advocacy. Specifically, the post-holder will work with local partners and lawyers to build communities’ legal skills, provide support for community-led litigation to address rights violations, enable activists to improve their advocacy, and pilot appropriate accountability mechanisms to increase decision-makers’ sensitivity to the concerns of marginalised minority groups. The postholder may also work on improving the knowledge of legal professionals on international standards and national laws that address or impact on minorities and indigenous peoples.

B: Main duties and responsibilities

1.Litigation and legal empowerment work:

The tasks include, but are not limited to:

· Delivery of legal cases work within MRG’s programme of litigation, including identifying potential new cases, assessing their merits, developing case strategies, researching and drafting legal arguments, advising partners and lawyers on collection of evidence and on case strategies, attending and representing community in legal hearings, organising and participating in community consultation meetings, working to bring about the implementation of successful legal decisions and judgments, and other related legal work;

· Working with partners, lawyers, experts and other collaborating organisations to develop appropriate holistic advocacy strategies to complement the litigation (including media, advocacy, campaigns and similar methods);

· Developing, organising and running appropriate paralegal and other legal empowerment and capacity building training for minority and indigenous communities who are involved in, or who wish to become involved, in litigation;

· Manage budgets as delegated by the Head of Law, and work with in-country partners to ensure projects are delivered on schedule, within budget and to appropriate quality standards;;

· Assist with the identification of new opportunities for MRG’s legal work;

· Assist with maintaining and developing relationships with third party organisations interested in legal work, including NGOs, donors, bar associations, law firms, barristers’ chambers and similar organisations;

· Research and draft logframes, programme proposals and budgets for new legal work, draft reports to donors and other fundraising related documents.

2.Financial / programme management:

· Drafting reports on activities and preparing financial and narrative reports to donors;

· Managing elements of the project budgets;

· Contributes to the evaluation of MRG activities.

3. General

· Undertake such other tasks as may reasonably be requested by the Head of Law;

· Ensure all Africa based staff are aware of legal cases and liaise with staff working on capacity building, media, advocacy and other work to maximise synergies and mutual internal sharing and learning;

· Regular liaison with the London office, including but not limited to the Head of Law; attend staff and departmental meetings;

· Respect and work towards full implementation of MRG’s gender and equal opportunities policies in all the work involved in this post;

· Some foreign travel may be required.

4.Confidential information

Responsible for maintaining confidentiality as the job holder will be entitled to a very high level of access to confidential information pertaining to MRG’s strategies, detailed financial information, and also access to sensitive external information which may impact on MRG’s activities.

5. Degree of supervision

The job holder will be expected to report to the Head of Law any variation from agreed plans and schedules, and to report regularly on the programme and project’s progress.

6.Working conditions

The job holder will be based in MRG’s regional office in Kampala, Uganda. The post holder must have or be able to swiftly obtain the right to work in Uganda. Some foreign travel will be required. The job holder may need to travel to the UK and must be able to obtain a UK business visit visa to do so. Travel within the UK, USA or Europe to carry out advocacy, visit donors, to give or receive training may also be necessary. The job holder is required to maintain the pace of work which may at times be high, and will need to manage several tasks simultaneously.

The work will involve sensitive and careful work with communities and a variety of NGOs in complex and insecure environments.

Although the primary purpose of this post is as described above, the post holder may be required to work partly or wholly on other areas of MRG’s work. This is to allow MRG to move staff away from work which is un-funded or under-funded or is no longer a priority for the organisation, to work on areas which have more funding, are growing or which are understaffed. This will normally involve the post holder in carrying out tasks similar or identical to those listed in this job description but applied to different programmes or projects.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Title: Legal Officer, Uganda

A. Education and Knowledge

Essential

· An undergraduate and/or postgraduate qualification in law at degree level

· Good knowledge of the Africa region including recent economic, political and social developments gained through work experience, travel in the region or study

· Detailed knowledge of international human rights and minority rights law including economic and social rights, collective and individual rights, standards relating to minority communities and indigenous peoples

· Knowledge of international and some national legal systems and legal fora

Desirable

· Relevant postgraduate qualification

· Knowledge of anti-discrimination law in theory and practice

· Knowledge of intergovernmental organisations e.g. the UN, AU, and similar organisations.

B. Experience

Essential

· At least 2 years’ experience of litigation in international fora.

· To have had a primary or major role in drafting legal documents in at least 3 international human rights cases

· At least 2 years’ experience of litigating on relevant or similar issues in at least one national legal system

· At least 2 years’ experience of advocacy or lobbying or media or campaigning work

· At least 2 years’ experience of project management (including managing budgets, project delivery, monitoring)

· To have experience of designing and running legal training, including personally facilitating training sessions.

Desirable

· Experience of working on minority or related issues

· Experience of working with members of minority communities

C. Abilities and Skills

Essential

· Good communication skills including good written and spoken English and French

· Ability to draft legal documents (including third party interventions and procedural documents).

· Computer literate and knowledge of Microsoft Word, spreadsheets, databases, the Internet and email packages

· Good letter writing and numeracy skills

· Ability to prioritise work, meet deadlines

· Ability to stay calm under pressure and to assess and absorb information quickly

· Ability to maintain confidentiality

· A team player but also able to work at times with minimal supervision

· Excellent interpersonal skills

· Capable of working in physically and organisationally challenging environments

· Ability to gain the confidence of members of minority communities and legal professionals; good diplomacy skills with diverse groups of people

· Ability and willingness to travel as required

D. Personality

Essential

· A strong commitment to using international law as a means of advancing the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples

· Commitment to the aims and objectives of MRG

· Commitment to gender equity

· Enthusiastic about working in a multicultural environment and committed to equal opportunities