Senior Legal Officer at Open Society Institute

.



The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. Open societies are characterized by the rule of law; respect for human rights, minorities, and a diversity of opinions; democratically elected governments; market economies in which business and government are separate; and a civil society that helps keep government power in check. 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 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 national foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.

Seeking an individual with substantial human rights litigation experience in the field of national security and counter-terrorism, together with exceptional organizational and project management skills. The Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of the Open Society Institute that promotes rights-based law reform and strengthens legal capacity worldwide, seeks a Senior Legal Officer to implement litigation designed to challenge human rights violations outside the United States presented by terrorist violence and counter-terrorism efforts undertaken in the wake of or exacerbated by the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Since its founding at the end of 2002, the Justice Initiative has combined litigation, out-of-court legal advocacy, technical assistance, research and the dissemination of knowledge to secure advances in several thematic priority areas: national criminal justice, international justice, freedom of information and expression, anti-corruption, and equality and citizenship. Its offices and staff are in Abuja, Almaty, Amsterdam, Budapest, London, New York and Washington
Background.

Although terrorist violence has long threatened fundamental rights, the attacks of 9/11 placed the threat of terrorism at the forefront of global concern. Since 9/11, moreover, many governments have responded to the threat of terrorist attacks in ways that violate internationally-protected human rights; in other cases, the post-9/11 environment has exacerbated human rights problems justified in terms of counter-terrorism that predate 9/11. Suspected terrorists have been tortured; the United States and other governments have used “extraordinary renditions” to transfer terrorism suspects from one country to another, where the suspects have often been at serious risk of torture, outside the formal framework of extradition processes; accountability has become attenuated in the wake of many governments’ growing recourse to secrecy, undermining democratic government and in some instances imperiling legal process; more generally, due process rights have been compromised in relation to persons detained on grounds of suspected participation in terrorist activities; peaceful forms of protest have been restricted in some countries; police have increasingly used impermissible forms of profiling to identify individuals suspected of terrorist activity or thought to be susceptible to the influence of terrorist organizations; and persons whose citizenship or legal residency status is vulnerable have faced increased human rights threats justified on national security grounds.

In the United States and United Kingdom, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have systematically used strategic litigation along with other advocacy tools to address abuses associated with state responses to terrorist and other national security-related threats. In these and other countries, advocacy efforts have also included documenting abuses and engaging in policy reform activities.

To date, the Justice Initiative has contributed to global efforts to combat abuses arising out of post-9/11 counter-terrorism efforts in two principal ways:

* First, its programs on National Criminal Justice Reform and Equality and Citizenship have jointly documented practices of ethnic profiling in Europe. While these efforts are not limited to post-9/11 profiling of Muslims, this has been a major focus of the Justice Initiative’s programmatic work on profiling. The Justice Initiative’s central activity in this area has been documenting violations and publishing the results, along with legal analysis and policy recommendations, in public reports;
* Second, the Freedom of Information/Expression program has initiated requests under several countries’ freedom of information laws seeking information about their governments’ cooperation in extraordinary renditions and is collaborating with various organizations in Europe to ensure that these requests help advance litigation challenging the renditions themselves.

The Justice Initiative is exploring preliminary plans for litigation and advocacy concerning the following national security-related abuses in different regions of the world outside the United States:

* The use of administrative and preventive detention for the implicit or explicit purpose of combating terrorism;
* The development of terrorist lists, and other forms of databases, by governments and inter-governmental bodies;
* The use of counter-terrorist policies to restrict forms of protected expression, including speech, association and religious expression;
* The involvement of governments outside the United States in policies of extraordinary rendition;
* Ethnic and religious profiling and discrimination in the application of counter-terrorism policies.

Responsibilities:

Based in the New York office, the Senior Legal Officer for National Security and Counter-terrorism will report to the Director of Programs. Working directly with national lawyers and NGOs, and coordinating closely with Justice Initiative program staff, the Senior Legal Officer for National Security and Counter-Terrorism will further develop and implement plans for litigation and advocacy to address these and related abuses in areas of existing Justice Initiative thematic priority.

Substantive

* 1.Develop a network of lawyers working on issues of national security and counter-terrorism in selected substantive fields and geographic regions;
* 2.Maintain contact with and be completely conversant with other organizations’ activities in the field;
* 3.Identify and review suitable cases for litigation, in accordance with established Justice Initiative procedures;
* 4.Provide legal advice and representation on domestic, regional and international human rights law, jurisprudence and related developments, through direct party representation, third party submissions, and assistance to local lawyers;
* 5.Identify and pursue appropriate advocacy strategies to addresses abuses flowing from the application of national security and counter-terrorism policies;
* 6.Develop a collection of legal resources;

Managerial

* 7.Manage the case load ensuring the timely consideration of new cases, together with the preparation and submission of drafts for the Justice Initiative review process and the relevant court or tribunal;
* 8.Represent Open Society Justice Initiative at meetings, conferences, workshops and to other international organizations as needed;
* 9.Develop and maintain contacts with other partners; update the central database with contact details;

Administrative

* 10.Ensure maintenance of complete and up to date case files in paper and electronic format on a central database;
* 11.Share information about projects throughout Open Society Justice Initiative and the OSI network;
* 12Prepare material for periodic reporting within the Justice Initiative;
* 13.Provide monthly reports for review and discussion;
* 14.Coordinate with the Administrative Director and other administrative staff in the preparation of budgets, memorandums and other documents required to activate budgets and implement projects;

Financial

* 15.Provide and amend as required a budget for the review of the Open Society Justice Initiative advisory board once a year for review;
* 16.Monitor budgets and expenditures on a regular basis for individual projects;

Communication

* 17.Implementation and further development of the media strategy to complement the litigation;
* 18.Exercise primary responsibility for drafting of thematic materials and management of thematic information and communications – both internal and external - , including for the Justice Initiative website;
* 19.Liaise with the Justice Initiative board as required;
* 20.In cooperation with the Senior Officer, Communications, manage the production of all thematic publications;

Supervisory

* 21.Direct the work of pro bono lawyers, consultants, fellows and interns working on national security litigation;
* 22.Assist program lawyers on cases involving national security;

Other

* 23.Travel as needed to carry out the above responsibilities;
* 24.Perform other duties as assigned by the Executive Director.

Qualifications:

* Qualified to practice law;
* Substantial professional experience with human rights litigation at national or regional levels, preferably in the field of national security;
* Familiarity with international and regional human rights tribunals and jurisprudence;
* Ability to manage effectively multiple projects and cases in a fast-paced environment;
* Extensive skills and high comfort level with computer research, database management and word processing, including Outlook, internet, Lexis/Nexis, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access;
* Complete fluency in English with excellent writing, editorial, and oral advocacy skills;
* Capacity to work well in a team;
* Pleasant, diplomatic manner and disposition in interacting with senior management; colleagues at all levels, contacts, and the general public;
* Ability to work both independently and with others;
* Integrity, professional discretion and ability to handle confidential matters.

Salary: Competitive salary commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits.

Start Date: Immediately.

To Apply

Please email resume and cover letter with salary requirements before 1 April 2009, to: humanresources@sorosny.org
Include job code in subject line: SLO/OSJI

Or

Open Society Institute
Human Resources – Code SLO/OSJI
400 West 59th Street
New York, New York 10019
USA
Fax: +1 212.548.4675

No phone calls, please.
The Open Society Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Please quote 101 Global Jobs (Legal, NGO and Government) in your application to this job!

To receive job announcements in your e-mail on a daily basis, subscribe to 101globaljobs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.