Legal Consultant

INTERSOS is a non-profit humanitarian aid organisation that works to bring assistance to people in danger, victims of natural disasters and armed conflicts. Established in 1992 with support from the Italian Federation of Trade Unions, its actions are based on the values of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equal rights and opportunities for all people and respect for diversity and coexistence, paying particular attention to the most vulnerable and the unprotected.

INTERSOS identifies with the core values of CONCORD, the European Confederation of NGOs; it adheres to international codes of conduct for humanitarian organisations and the values and principles expressed within those codes. INTERSOS is recognised by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the European Commission and the principal UN agencies; it is privileged to hold an advisory status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
INTERSOS is an independent association which, through its own humanitarian operators, intervenes to effectively answer the needs of people in serious crises situations, mainly in the world's poorest regions, who are suffering, deprived of rights, dignity and essentials goods. It maintains a flexible operating structure. The head office in Italy coordinates, supports and monitors the planned activities in the countries of intervention carried out by decentralised offices.

Job Purpose:

The Legal Consultant is responsible for providing legal information and counseling to vulnerable persons, in accordance with INTERSOS’ mandate, priorities and donor agreements. The Legal Consultant directly reports to the INTERSOS Project Manager with the technical supervision of the Protection Officer.

Main Duties:

• Family Law
• Gender Based Violence and Child Protection legal framework
• Legal identity including obtaining civil documentation necessary to access rights and services (birth registration, marriage registration)
• Citizenship and statelessness issues related to displacement

Exceptionally, the team may engage in other thematic areas based on needs and external requests.

Specific Duties:

1. Conduct basic interviews with refugees in order to assess legal and urgent protection needs.
2. Provide legal information and legal advice to beneficiaries on main legal issues encountered.
3. Plan and facilitate awareness sessions for the Refugees community and the Host community on different legal topics.
4. Be involved in the office organization of awareness sessions or any other topic to be decided according to the need, in close coordination with the Protection Officer for Legal Assistance.
5. Attend meetings and workshop/training as requested by the Protection Officer, the Protection Manager or the Project Manager.
6. Respect deadline for the delivering of weekly and monthly reports and any kind of urgent reporting to the Project Manager or Protection Officer.’
7. When applicable, provide legal assistance to people who are in need of urgent and legal protection
8. Provide services including legal representation in court.
9. Inform Protection Officer of the individual progress of legal cases on a weekly basis.
10. Any other task not listed here but necessary to the project and activities.
11. Available to work extra hours and available at the weekend for emergency cases.

Competencies: (Knowledge, Skills & Abilities)

Professional Competencies:

• 2 to 3 years of relevant professional experience in the legal field
• Previous experience in humanitarian work or NGOs (working on refugee related legal problems)
• Preferably prior experience with UNHCR persons of concern
• Prior experience in working with governmental authorities is added value
• Familiarity with international protection and human rights legal standards
• Knowledge on how to communicate with vulnerable population groups, such as women, children, youth, elderly, disabled and refugees
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of local communities and customary rules
• Excellent analysis and reporting
• Computer/IT literacy (OS Windows, MS Office, Internet etc.)
• Driving License

Behavioural competencies:

• Teamwork
• High degree of flexibility and adaptability
• Initiative
• Excellent communication and organization
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of local communities and customary rules
• Ability to work closely with a diverse team of individuals
• Ability to work under difficult circumstances
• Punctuality and respect for applicable rules and procedures
• Strongly objective and impartial reasoning
• Ethical and transparent decision-making
• Independence, i.e. conducting tasks with minimal supervision, and stress resilience
• Self-motivation, goal/result-orientation and team work