Legal Officer

Org. Setting and Reporting

The Registry is part of the independent Office of Administration of Justice (OAJ) and supports the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) at the UNDT seat in Geneva. The incumbent will report to the Registrar in Geneva as the First Reporting Officer and the Principal Registrar as the Second Reporting Officer. The UNDT is the first instance tribunal of the internal justice system and hears and decides cases filed by or on behalf of current and former staff members appealing administrative decisions. The UNDT conducts hearings, issues orders, and renders binding judgments.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Legal Officer will be responsible for the following duties: In the framework of the Registry, the Legal Officer will be responsible for providing substantive, technical and administrative support for the adjudication of cases to the UNDT judges in Geneva.

• Review of submissions to the UNDT.
• Draft, review and advise on legal documents and correspondence.
• Support Judges by preparing background materials and summaries of issues, as required.
• Attend meetings, and give advice on emerging issues and questions, as required.
• Identify issues, draft legal texts and handle a wide range of complex legal matters involving interpretation and application of administrative/employment law.
• Conduct extensive legal research and provide detailed analysis of cases and jurisprudence.
• Provide legal advice on diverse substantive and procedural questions.
• Assist in the preparation of referrals to the Mediation Division of the Office of the Ombudsman.
• Support the Judges in producing accurate, comprehensive judgments, including review of draft judgments for any inconsistencies or inaccuracies, and ensuring editorial uniformity prior to dissemination.
• Respond to correspondence/queries from the parties.
• Assist in maintaining the UNDT’s registers (electronic and paper), the publication and dissemination of the decisions, rulings and judgments rendered by the UNDT, in the required official languages, through the agreed media.
• Assist in maintaining the UNDT’s case law digest and jurisprudence databank.
• Perform other duties as required.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent degree) in law. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in law, including legal analysis, research and writing is required.
• At least two years of experience in administrative or employment/labor law preferably in an international organization or tribunal is required.
• At least two years of experience providing support to a judge/judges as a judicial or legal clerk or legal officer is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Fluency in another United Nations Official language is desirable.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/247274?language=en