Budapest, Hungary job: Associate Legal Officer at Open Society Institute

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Legal Aid And Community Empowerment Clinics
Legal Capacity Development Program
Open Society Justice Initiative

The Open Society Justice Initiative is seeking an individual with substantial human rights teaching and legal aid experiences, exceptional organizational and project management skills, preferably in the fields of criminal law and legal empowerment.

The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of marginalized people and communities.

Investor and philanthropist George Soros in 1993 created OSI as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. OSI has expanded the activities of the Soros foundations network to encompass the United States and more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each Soros foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.

The Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of OSI, pursues law reform activities grounded in the protection of human rights, and contributes to the development of legal capacity for open societies worldwide. The Justice Initiative combines litigation, legal advocacy, technical assistance, and the dissemination of knowledge to secure advances in the following priority areas: anticorruption, equality and citizenship, freedom of information and expression, international justice, and national criminal justice. Its offices are in Abuja, Budapest, London, New York, and Washington DC.

One of the ways the Justice Initiative helps to inspire young lawyers and develop legal capacity is through university-based legal aid clinics. University-based legal aid clinics allow young attorneys, law students and paralegals to provide legal or legal literacy/information services to poor, vulnerable and marginalized segments of the society. They promote social justice and foster professionalism and a sense of public service among lawyers. Law students gain exposure to the problems faced by these groups while developing a sense of their professional responsibility to sustain and support the rule of law, human rights, and social justice.

The Justice Initiative’s predecessor organization pioneered clinical legal education in Central and Eastern Europe in 1997. The initial efforts resulted in founding of almost 100 university based clinical programs in the region. Since its establishment in 2002 Justice Initiative has helped to launch and/or supported university legal aid and community empowerment clinics in Sierra Leone (Fourah Bay College Human Rights Clinic); Mozambique (Eduardo Mondlane University Legal Clinic); Ethiopia (Mekelle University Legal Aid Clinic); Cambodia (Panassastra University of Cambodia Legal Clinic); Turkey (Bilgi University Legal Clinic); Nigeria (Network of University Legal Aid Institutions that supports six pilot legal clinics), Ukraine (a national association for clinics which brings together over 30 clinics) and Mexico (CIDE law school clinic and ITAM public interest clinic). Currently it is engaged in promoting and supporting law clinics programs in Lebanon, China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Afghanistan and has particular focus on indigent criminal defense, freedom of information, and community legal empowerment.

Based in Budapest, the Associate Legal Officer for Legal Capacity Development Program (LCD) will develop and oversee execution of Justice Initiative work in the field of Legal Aid and Community Empowerment Clinics (LACEC). Under the supervision the Justice Initiative Director – Budapest, the Associate Legal Officer has the following principal responsibilities:

Key Responsibilities:

* Designs, manages, oversees, and evaluates the implementation of projects in the area of Legal Aid and Community Empowerment Clinics in cooperation with partners including OSI Network Programs, Soros national foundations, and/or local partners (universities, NGOs, and other institutions and organizations);
* Conceptualizes projects on LACEC through researching the human rights/legal, civil society and political context of proposed activities, through consultations with experts in the field, and through working with local partners, OSI Network Programs, Soros national foundations, on project concepts and descriptions, budgets and co-funding, and on finalizing project documents;
* Undertakes necessary administrative and financial functions required for the smooth operation of LACEC, including, but not limited to, e-mail and telephonic communication; scheduling appointments and meetings; making travel and visa arrangements; drafting grant and consultancy agreements, maintaining a program calendar; maintaining a database of project contacts; and preparing and monitoring project and program budgets and expenditures;
* Works with program staff to develop monthly reports and other internal and external narrative and /or analytical documentation relating to program and project activities and results, with careful attention to pursuit of agreed program and project goals;
* Ensures day-to-day effective project implementation and management, including by pursuing research and advocacy efforts, by organizing capacity building trainings and other events, and by designing jointly with project partners and consultants materials for law clinics;
* Maintains and develops close working relationships with project partners in countries of operation and internationally and cultivates and expands a network of contacts among donors, universities and NGOs;
* Identifies and pursues advocacy opportunities for the program and coordinates with staff of other Justice Initiative programs in order to maximize the organization’s ability to capitalize on such opportunities;
* Supervises and directs consultants, the program associate, pro bono lawyers and law fellows/interns;
* Develop and edit materials for the Justice Initiative website and ensure that the Justice Initiative files, database and website are up-to-date on LACEC projects; collaborate with the Senior Officer-Communications on Justice Initiative publications and website content;
* Performs other project-related tasks as assigned by Justice Initiative Director - Budapest;
* Travels as required (may be extensive).

Qualifications:

* Law school graduate;
* Significant knowledge and experience with human rights and legal education issues;
* Knowledge of law teaching and training methodology (law teaching and training experience preferred);
* Extensive legal skills, including legal research, analysis, legal writing and drafting, legal reasoning and argumentation;
* Fluency in English (oral and written); knowledge of French is a plus;
* Ability to manage effectively multiple projects and tasks in a fast-paced and diverse cultural environments;
* Extensive computer skills and high comfort level with database management and Microsoft Office ( including Word, Outlook, Excel, and Access);
* Excellent internet skills and knowledge of Lexis/Nexis;
* Extraordinary initiative and creativity, excellent communication skills and diplomatic abilities;
* Ability to work both independently and in team;
* Integrity, professional discretion and ability to handle confidential matters; and
* Familiarity with the geographic regions of Justice Initiative engagement is a plus.


Salary: Competitive salary commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits.

To Apply: Send curriculum vitae, cover letter and writing sample immediately to:applications@admingroup.hu.

Application Deadline: 3 April 2009.

OSI is an Equal Opportunity Employer which supports diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation.

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