Legal Officer – France

Hardship Level

H (no hardship)

Family Type

Family

Residential location (if applicable)

Grade

PR3

Staff Member / Affiliate Type

Professional

• Staff members will not normally serve in International Professional positions in the country of their nationality. In addition, in case of a first appointment upon recruitment, the assignment must be outside the staff member’s country of nationality.

In practical terms this means that you are not eligible to apply for International Professional vacancies advertised in the country where you are national of.

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

Remote work accepted

No

Target Start Date

2023-11-30

Job Posting End Date

December 21, 2023

Standard Job Description

Legal Officer – France

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The incumbent plays a major role within the protection team and an important role within the overall office team.

Among his/her major tasks, s/he will maintain a close working relationship with the two main actors active in Refugee Status Determination (RSD) in France, i.e., the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) and the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) (second instance). To ensure the quality of the asylum procedure, the incumbent will coordinate and implement initiatives such as quality control of decisions taken and regular trainings to officials involved in status determination.

UNHCR plays a very exceptional role in France as it is participating in RSD decision processes. The incumbent will act as a judge at the asylum national court. To be able to attend the very high number of court sessions, Country Office (CO) Paris works with a pool of some 160 adjudicators (consultants) all of whom are legal experts and sit as UNHCR designated judges at the Court on a daily basis.

The incumbent of the post is the legal focal point for these consultants; s/he delivers expert training on guidelines and case-law and provides them with updated Country of Origin Information (COI) information in the context of the French legal system. Legal advice is also regularly provided to OFPRA and CNDA and lawyers, with the support of the Division of International Protection (DIP) when needed, especially on sensitive issues. The advisory role also includes the broader protection and asylum networks, including academic judges and lawyers.

French nationality is required for this post because of the activities performed by the incumbent as an adjudicator at the CNDA. Currently, only French citizens can act as adjudicators as they render justice on behalf of the French People.

Furthermore, the Legal Officer is also in charge of monitoring the adoption and implementation of laws and decrees in France regarding the whole asylum procedure, as well as France’s position in the context of the reform of the asylum system in European Union, coordinating UNHCR’s comments and relaying them to high-level institutional partners.

The incumbent is in charge of the monitoring of the situation in overseas territories, such as Guyana and Mayotte and maintain strong cooperation with authorities and operational partners.

S/he is also responsible to provide strategic political and legal advice to the Representative, together with her/his supervisor, the Senior Protection Officer (SPO).

The incumbent’s role is essential to support and provide specialist advice to the office in its high-quality dialogue on RSD and other important protection issues in France.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

• Develop good working relationships with UNHCR’s interlocutors in the RSD field (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, National Court of Asylum, lawyers, academics, NGOs involved in RSD activities in France) and maintain close contacts with them in order to positively influence RSD practice in France and promote UNHCR protection guidelines.
• Ensure the management (including coordination of the administrative management) and the provision of specialised guidance to a pool of French consultants designated by UNHCR at the National Court of Asylum and supervise the activities of the protection clerk related to it.
• Prepare and deliver training courses to the UNHCR consultants involved at the National Court of Asylum as well as the relevant authorities and NGOs.
• Monitor the work of the consultants designated by UNHCR and identify possible gaps in the decision-making and avenues to modernize practices in line with international standards.
• Attend the Court session as a judge and promote the principles and guidelines published by UNHCR.
• Analyse reports, statistics, legal developments on asylum in France and in Europe and provide legal commentaries.
• Contribute to quality assurance measures for the first and second instance asylum procedures.
• Assist in drafting policy papers, briefing notes and reports.
• Monitor the situation of reception conditions in overseas territories, especially in French Guyana and Mayotte and maintain strong cooperation with authorities and operational partners.
• Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For P3 – 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

Law; or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses

HCR RSD Learning Program

(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Essential

Relevant Job Experience

In-depth knowledge of French domestic law (particularly administrative, aliens and refugee law), to be able to provide specialist guidance to the adjudicators, many of whom are experienced Law professors. Proven professional experience in dealing with eligibility and legal issues and procedures concerning aliens and refugees in France, to be able to provide specialized quality advice.

Desirable

Previous experience in training on RSD is an important asset.

Functional Skills

PR-RSD – Principles and Procedures, operational arrangements/assistance

LE-Drafting & development of data protection policies & guidelines based on best practices

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

Essential: English (C1) and French (C2).

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

Empowering & Building Trust

Judgement & Decision Making

Leadership

Managing Performance

Managing Resource

Cross-Functional Competencies

Stakeholder Management

Policy Development &Research

Political Awareness

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

Desired Candidate Profile

The incumbent should, additionally, be fully conversant with the complex french political, administrative, judiciary context, including at decentralised and central level. She/he should be a team player, but also capable to take initiatives, to lead with creativity some activities, to liaise with diplomacy and tact the full range of interactions with diverse stakeholders. Also, she/he should be in capacity, immediately upon arrival, to provide, together with the SPO and per request, strategic advise on political and legal advocacy around the main priorities of the HCR operation.

Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):

French

,

,

Desired languages

,

,

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

Please visit https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

The Legal Officer – France reports to the Senior Protection Officer based in Country Office Paris and supervises a Protection Associate and a Senior Protection Assistant. They rely on their legal expertise to provide acute legal insights feeding the CO’s strategy and advocacy. Their responsibilities encompass providing strategic political and legal advice to the Representative, collaborating closely with the Supervisor for guidance and support in decision-making.

Their primary responsibilities revolve around maintaining close ties with key entities involved in Refugee Status Determination (RSD) in France: the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) and the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) and monitoring the integrity of the asylum processes.

French citizenship is a prerequisite due to the role’s involvement as an adjudicator at CNDA, exclusive to French citizens rendering justice on behalf of the nation.

Living and Working Conditions:

Paris is a modern capital with all the necessary means of communication and good living conditions. However, like other capitals in Europe, accommodation is expensive. The city has a full range of health and education facilities and easy access to all types of goods and services.

to all kinds of goods and services. A metro and bus network serves the whole city, and RER and TER (regional trains) lines serve the suburbs. Commuting times to and from the office can be long, depending on the location of the accommodation. Air and mainline rail connect the city with the rest of the country and the world.

The city is classified as an H/family duty station with a low-security threat level.

Skills

Additional Qualifications

Education

Bachelor of Arts (BA): Law

Certifications

HCR RSD Learning Program – UNHCR

Work Experience

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Leadership, Managing performance, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Policy research & development, Political awareness, Stakeholder management, Strategic planning & visions, Teamwork & collaboration

UNHCR Salary Calculator

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Add. 2 to Bi-annual Compendium 2023 – Part B

Additional Information

Functional clearance

This position doesn’t require a functional clearance