associate legal officer

Org. Setting and Reporting

This position is located in the Office of the Legal Counsel, Office of Legal Affairs (OLA). The Associate Legal Officer reports to a Legal Officer under the supervision of a Senior Legal Officer.

The Office of Legal Affairs is the central legal service of the Organization and provides legal advice to the Secretary-General, Secretariat departments and offices and United Nations organs on public and private international law; represents the Secretary-General in legal conferences and in judicial proceedings; performs substantive and secretariat functions for legal organs involved in public international law, the law of the sea and ocean affairs and international trade law; and performs the functions conferred on the Secretary-General in Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Responsibilities

Within the limits of delegated authority, the Associate Legal Officer may be responsible for the following duties:

• Conducts legal research on a diverse range of assigned issues in international law using multiple research sources; selects relevant material, analyzes information, and presents findings for internal review.
• Assists Legal Officers in the review of legal documents, instruments, or other material; identifies important issues, similarities, and inconsistencies, etc.
• Assists in the preparation of drafts of background papers, studies, reports, etc.
• Assists in the preparation of legal opinions/advice on a wide range of public international law issues, including the United Nations Charter, Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and decisions and other instruments involving, inter alia, issues relating to privileges and immunities, peacekeeping operations, institutional questions, treaty law and practice, international criminal and human rights law, procedural issues arising during meetings of United Nations organs, and the constitutional law of the Organization.
• Assists in the preparation of agreements and arrangements with governments and other international organizations.
• Assists Legal Officers in servicing intergovernmental bodies, diplomatic conferences, commissions, committees, task forces and other bodies, including preparation of background materials, summaries of issues and views of delegations, etc.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Competencies

Professionalism:

Knowledge of public international law, including the Charter of the United Nations and the law of privileges and immunities.

Familiarity with the organization of the United Nations system.

Ability to apply, legal principles, concepts and procedures and terminology for review, examination, and processing of a range of legal documents.

Knowledge of various legal research sources, including electronic, and ability to conduct research and analyse information on a wide range of legal issues.

Ability to interpret and apply legislative instruments, develop and present results, recommendations, and opinions clearly and concisely. Ability to draft legal papers and work under pressure. Ability to apply good legal judgment in the context of assignments given.

Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.

Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Communication:

Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Teamwork:

Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Education

An advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in public international law is required.

A first-level university degree in law, in combination with the required work experience plus an additional two years of professional work experience in international law, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Job - Specific Qualification

Not available.

Work Experience

A minimum of two years of progressively responsible professional experience in law, including legal analysis, research and writing or successful completion of the Young Professionals Programme Examination (YPP)/United Nations National Competitive Recruitment Examination (NCRE) or the General Service to Professional Examination (G to P) is required.

One year or more of professional experience working as a lawyer in a government department or ministry or in the secretariat of an international organization is desirable.

Professional legal experience advising on issues of international law concerning privileges and immunities is desirable. Professional legal experience in the negotiation of international agreements is desirable.

Professional legal experience advising on issues of international law and practice in the field of international peace operations is desirable.

Professional legal experience handling requests for international legal cooperation in matters of evidence is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice

• This position is temporarily available until 31 December 2024. If the selected candidate is a staff member from the United Nations Secretariat, the selection will be administered as a temporary assignment.
• While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post.
• Subject to the funding source of the position, the eligibility for this temporary job opening may be limited to candidates based at the duty station.
• This temporary job opening may be limited to "internal candidates," who have been recruited through a competitive examination administered according to staff rule 4.16 or staff selection process including the review of a central review body established according to staff rule 4.15.
• Staff members of the United Nations common system organizations who will reach the mandatory age of separation or retirement within the duration of the current temporary need period are not eligible to apply.

Submitting an application or selection for the current temporary job opening does not delay or increase the mandatory age of separation.

• Retirees above the mandatory age of separation who wish to be considered for the current temporary job opening must indicate the reason for their last separation as "retirement." Such retirees shall not be employed by the Organization, unless (a) the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by staff members who are qualified and available to perform the required functions; and (b) the proposed employment would not adversely affect the career development or redeployment opportunities of other staff members and represents both a cost-effective and operationally sound solution to meet the needs of the service. Pursuant to section 7.11 of ST/AI/2012/2/Rev.1, candidates recruited through the young professionals programme who have not served for a minimum of two years in the position of their initial assignment are not eligible to apply to this position.

United Nations Considerations

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts.

The term "sexual exploitation" means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.

The term "sexual abuse" means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.

The term "sexual harassment" means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator's working relationship.

Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.

Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs.

The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.

By accepting a letter of appointment, staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c).

Further, staff members in the Professional and higher category up to and including the D-2 level and the Field Service category are normally required to move periodically to discharge functions in different duty stations under conditions established in ST/AI/2023/3 on Mobility, as may be amended or revised.

This condition of service applies to all position specific job openings and does not apply to temporary positions.

Applicants are urged to carefully follow all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira, and to refer to the Applicant Guide by clicking on "Manuals" in the "Help" tile of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines.

Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening.

No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted.

Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING).

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS' BANK ACCOUNTS.

---