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EUROJUST

Vacancy notice for the post of:

Assistant to the Legal Service (College Matters)
Reference: 09/EJ/208
Temporary agent – AST 3
M/F

Applicants are invited to apply for the post of Assistant to the Legal Service.

EUROJUST is a European Union body established in 2002 (Council Decision 2002/187/JHA of 28 February 2002 on the setting up of EUROJUST, last amended by the Council Decision 2003/659/JHA of 18 June 2003) to enhance the effectiveness of the competent authorities within Member States dealing with serious cross-border and organised crime.

The College of EUROJUST is composed of 27 National Members, one nominated by each EU Member State. The College elects one of the National Members to be its President. The Administrative Director is responsible, under the supervision of the President, for the day-to-day administration of Eurojust and staff management.

For further information, please consult our website: www.eurojust.europa.eu

The Legal Service of Eurojust has three main spheres of competences:

• It provides legal advice and assistance to the College of Eurojust, in the accomplishment of its objectives and tasks as described in the Eurojust Decision, and to the activities of the College (“College matters”);
• It provides legal advice and assistance to the Administrative Director and the administrative Units and Services of Eurojust in the performance of their tasks; in this capacity, the legal Service deals with all legal issues related to budget and finance, staff regulations, civil matters litigation (“Administrative matters”);
• It provides legal advice and assistance to the administrative Units and Services in the field of contracts, carries out the procurement tasks of Eurojust and ensures the compliance of the procurement process with all the legal requirements of public procurement (“Contracts and Procurement”).

The Assistant to the Legal Service is expected to primarily carry out his/her tasks in the Section “College matters” of the Legal Service but may also be assigned tasks in other areas depending on organisational needs and priorities.

The Section College matters of the Legal Service will, at the end of 2009, consist of one Senior Legal Officer and seven Legal Officers).

The tasks of the Section are as follows:

• Following the developments of EU legislative drafts and policy issues in the field of criminal matters and co-operation in criminal matters or related to the mission and future development of Eurojust, delivering summaries and drafting legal opinions related to them;
• Assisting the activities of the College, the College Teams and the National Members by the provision of legal background information and the drafting of legal opinions, draft decisions, position papers, briefing notes, speeches and reports on various issues related to the mission of Eurojust;
• Performing research on legal questions and providing information sources and reports;
• Providing legal assistance in the preparation and drafting of decisions taken under Articles 6 and 7 of the Eurojust Decision;
• Performing legal analysis of casework issues;
• Providing legal assistance in the drafting of guidelines, manuals and recommendations for best practices dedicated to practitioners on various issues related to co-operation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters;
• Contributing proactively to the further development of Eurojust’s legal framework, including the revision of the Eurojust decision and monitoring relevant development in the European Union;
• Representing Eurojust in EU for legal issues, participating on behalf of Eurojust in external meetings, working groups, conferences, seminars, and networks, and reporting to the College;
• Contributing to the planning, organisation and conduct of strategic meetings, conferences and seminars organised by Eurojust.

The Assistant to the Legal Service will report directly to the Senior Legal Officer.

1. Key accountabilities

Under the supervision of the Legal Officers, the successful applicant will be responsible for supporting them in their responsibilities and tasks as specified in the Work Programme of the Legal Service, and in particular in:

• Preparing and organising Eurojust meetings, seminars and conferences and any other event involving the direct support of the Legal Service;
• Carrying out the activities and projects incumbent to the Legal Service in relation with the implementation of the Eurojust Decision within Eurojust and in the Member States, and any other Eurojust’s activities and projects involving the direct support of the Legal Service;
• Preparing presentations for the College members and the members of the Legal Service; drafting documents, papers, presentations, correspondence, and other materials;
• Regularly collecting, organising, analysing and distributing legal documents and information of interest to the members of the Sector in view of the fulfilment of their tasks including the daily management of the Legal Service mailbox;
• Regularly updating the Legal Info page of the Intranet, in coordination with the Assistant to the Legal Service responsible for the development of the Legal Service sections on Intranet and Internet;
• Establishing and maintaining the internal documentation of the Sector (books, articles, electronic databases, etc.);
• Establishing and maintaining an efficient filing and classification system on the Eurojust Document Management System (DMS) for the documents of the Sector;
• Regularly updating the scoreboard of the Section, in coordination with the Assistant to the Legal Service tasked to support the Unit strategic planning;
• Performing any other tasks assigned by the Head of the Legal Service, including but not limited to: providing support to other Sectors of the Legal Service, depending on organisational needs and priorities.

2. Qualifications and experience required

a- Eligibility criteria

Candidates will be considered for the selection phase on the basis of the following criteria to be fulfilled by the closing date for applications:

• A level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma, and after having obtained the diploma, professional experience of at least 3 years,

OR

A level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education, and after having obtained the diploma, professional experience of at least 6 years;


• Thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the Communities and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the Communities to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties.

Furthermore, in order to be eligible, a candidate must:

• Be a national of one of the Member States of the Communities;
• Enjoy his/her full rights as a citizen;
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed on him/her by the laws on military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved;
• Be physically fit to perform his/her duties.

b- Selection criteria

Candidates selected on the basis of the above eligibility criteria will then be evaluated according to the following selection criteria:

Essential

• Good knowledge in the field of competence mentioned above under “key accountabilities”;
• Good knowledge and understanding of the legal and institutional framework governing the European institutions and bodies;
• Excellent planning and organisation skills;
• Excellent communication skills, both in written and oral form;
• Fluency in English as the tasks will mainly have to be carried out in English;
• Good knowledge of French as many legal related EU sources are in French;
• Strong skills in the use of electronic office equipment.

Advantageous

The following will be considered as additional assets:

• Experience in legal research and analysis;
• Working experience in the legal department of a public national administration or international organisation;
• Working experience in an international environment, in particular in the EU institutions or other experience with the EU decision-making procedure is considered an additional asset;
• Working experience in comparative law or with different legal systems.

3. Selection phase

A Selection Board is nominated by the Appointing Authority. The Human Resources Unit assists the Selection Board by checking the fulfilment of all formal requirements and eligibility criteria. The responsibility for any decision made during this exercise lies with the Selection Board. Failure to comply with one of the formal requirements or eligibility criteria will result in a disqualification of the applicant concerned.

The Selection Board then makes the decision on who is to be considered an eligible applicant for the selection process, in accordance with the requirements outlined in the vacancy notice, and decides from among the eligible applicants those who are to be invited to attend an interview. Candidates invited for an interview may be asked to undergo a written test.

The selection phase consists of an interview with the Selection Board, in order to evaluate the capacities of the candidates to perform the key accountabilities mentioned above. During the interview special attention will be paid to the specific knowledge required for the current post and the suitability and capacity of the candidate to adapt to a multicultural environment. The work of the Selection Board ends with the drawing up of a list of applicants suitable and a list of applicants unsuitable to occupy the position advertised.

Reserve list

The list of suitable is submitted to the Appointing Authority who decides on the appointment of the successful candidate(s) and the establishment of a reserve list for the post advertised. Candidates should note that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Recruitment will be based on availability of posts and budget.

The reserve list may be used by other units or services in order to fulfil the same or similar positions within Eurojust.

The reserve list for this post will be valid until 31 December 2010 and may be extended at the discretion of the Appointing Authority of Eurojust.

4. Contractual conditions

The Appointing Authority will appoint the successful candidate(s) as (a) member(s) of the temporary staff pursuant to Article 2(a) of the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities, to which he/she will be subject, for a period of 5 years. The contract may be renewed.

Remuneration will be based on the Community scale of salaries. Pay is subject to Community tax and other deductions laid down in the Staff Regulations. Remuneration is, however, exempt from any national taxation.

The grade for this position is: AST 3. The basic monthly salary of a temporary agent in the first step at AST 3 level, before any deductions or allowances, is approximately EUR 3270.

The place of employment will be The Hague, where Eurojust has its official seat.

Prior to contract signature, the successful candidate will be requested:

• to provide Eurojust with original or certified copies of all relevant documents proving the candidate’s eligibility criteria, including an extract from the candidates police file; and
• to undergo a compulsory medical examination to establish that the candidate meets the standard of physical fitness necessary to perform the duties involved.

For any further information on contractual and working conditions, please refer to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and its Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities, which is available on the following web page:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/personnel_administration/statut/tocen100.pdf

Confirmation of appointment and security clearance
Temporary staff are required to serve a probationary period of six months. Successful applicants may be required to undergo a security vetting and clearance procedure.

Declaration of commitment to serve public interest independently
The successful candidate will be required to make a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest and to make a declaration in relation to interests that might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence.

The successful candidate will be required to carry out his/her duties and conduct him/herself solely with the interests of the Communities in mind; he/she shall neither seek nor take instruction from any government, authority, organisation or person outside his/her institution. He/she shall carry out the duties assigned with objectivity, impartially and loyalty to the Communities.

Equal opportunities
EUROJUST applies a policy of equal opportunity for men and women and accepts applications without distinction on grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic characteristics, and language, religious, political or other convictions or opinions, financial situation, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation.

5. Submission of applications

Your E-application must arrive at the following e-mail address:
applications@eurojust.europa.eu by 15 October 2009 at midnight CET.

Please indicate the reference number on the application form, in the heading of your e-mail and in all future correspondence relating to this application.

Candidates must use the E-application form available on the website of Eurojust and must mention the reference number and the title of the post for which they are applying. All the questions on the form must be completed in full (whether or not the candidate decides to attach personal curriculum vitae). A separate “eligibility and selection criteria grid” available on the website of Eurojust must be returned in respect of each vacancy for which you apply.

The candidate should apply by filling in the E-application form which is available on the website of Eurojust. The E-application must be completed in English and in any one of the other 22 official EU languages. The E-application is available on the website of Eurojust in all 23 official EU languages. Eurojust publishes posts in parallel and if the candidate wishes to apply for more than one post, he/she must submit a separate E-application form for each post.

At the second stage, should applicants be invited for an interview, in order for the application to be considered complete, they must bring with them on the day of the interview photocopies of all the supporting documents (diplomas, certificates, professional references, etc.) necessary to prove that they satisfy all eligibility criteria. All documentary evidence of professional experience must indicate start and end dates of previous positions and the start date and continuity of the current position held.

Candidates who fail to submit all the documents specified on the date of the interview will be disqualified.

Please note that any documents submitted will not be returned to the candidates.

Application forms sent by fax or by postal mail will not be accepted, except for candidates who have a proven disability that prevents them from applying via E-application. These candidates may submit by postal mail, no later than the indicated closing date for the submission of applications (the postmark date will serve as proof), a printed version of the E-application form, and mail it with reference number of the selection procedure and title of the post to EUROJUST, Recruitment Office, P.O. Box 16183, 2500 BD The Hague, The Netherlands.

Closing Date: Closing dates for the submission of applications are strictly adhered to. Your E-application must arrive at the following e-mail address applications@eurojust.europa.eu by 15th of October 2009 at midnight CET. In the heading of the e-mail the reference number of the post and the title of the post for which a candidate is applying must be mentioned.

To summarise:

The Human Resources Unit will acknowledge receipt of applications. Due to the volume of applications, only candidates selected for the interviews will be contacted further. Candidates are invited to follow the recruitment process status on Eurojust website.

Please note that the Selection Board’s work and deliberations are strictly confidential and that any contact, directly or indirectly, with its members is strictly forbidden.

All personal data collected for any selection procedure to be handled by Eurojust will only be used for its purposes and will in no case be transmitted to any third party. Any data provided will be treated in the strictest confidence and with high standards of security. All documents provided to Eurojust during any selection procedure will be kept in Eurojust’s files and will not be returned to applicants. Applicants' documents will only be kept for as long as it is mandatory to fulfil the requirements of existing auditing/control procedures applicable to Eurojust. The Head of the HR Unit of Eurojust acts as controller of such data, which will be collected and further processed in full compliance with all applicable data protection regulations and, in particular, with the rules on the protection and processing of personal data at Eurojust (OJ C 68/1, 19.3.2005). The rights of information, access, correction, blocking and deletion of personal data are guaranteed under these rules.

Date of publication on Eurojust website: 17.09.2009