Legal Assistant at Avocats Sans Frontieres France

Project SAFE - “Strengthening the national actors' capacities and Advocating For Ending serious human rights violations in Nigeria”

Base: Abuja

Brief Presentation of Avocats Sans Frontières France

Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers Without Borders France or ASF France) is a French NGO established under the French law on organisations of July 1st, 1901. Its objectives are:

• To contribute to the effective application of universally recognised Human Rights, in accordance with the motion voted by the International Bar Association Conference of Common Legal Traditions on January 24th, 1992;
• To work wherever it is deemed useful and necessary, through the establishment or the restoration of the rule of law, of the judiciary and, particularly, of the right of fair trial and to adequate legal representation;
• To act for the prevention and against impunity for acts of aggression of any kind and, in particular, murder, enforced disappearances, torture, threats, persecution, imprisonment of which lawyers may be victim due to their professional activities. In order to do so, it may use all means at its disposal and may seize any national or international, legal or non-legal institution, or intervene in such cases, including by joining a victim’s civil action claim before the competent internal jurisdictions.

In order to do so, Avocats Sans Frontières France use all the means available and can bring complaints before domestic and international institutions, and before judicial and non-judicial institutions, it can also intervene before them, including through civil actions before competent jurisdictions.

ASF France mission in Nigeria

Active in Nigeria for more than a decade, ASF France is currently implementing human rights project on promoting international human rights standards on anti-torture and death penalty issues. Within the context of these projects, ASF France and its partners provide free legal assistance, conduct trainings and organize awareness and sensitization activities.

As part of its SAFE project: “Strengthening the national actors' capacities and Advocating For Ending serious human rights violations in Nigeria”, Avocats Sans Frontières France is looking for a Legal Assistant in Nigeria.

Job description

Under the supervision of the Project Manager, the Legal Assistant will carry out the following tasks for Avocats Sans Frontières France:

• Weekly update of the SAFE case management database with of all cases to be handled on the project
• Ensure regular updates of each case monitoring;
• Conduct regular legal research on human rights and SAFE thematic issues
• Prepare a monthly report of all cases handled on the project, explaining and analysing the current situation of each case and make proposals for improvement;
• Establish regular statistics to ensure the monitoring of legal assistance activities
• Support the program manager to monitor regular reports and updates from Support lawyers
• Provide support to the project manager in the organization of trainings, advocacy and roundtable activities on the SAFE project
• Report writing for meetings and activities
• Participate in the update of SAFE monitoring tools
• Participate in the selection of the cases of HR violations to be handled by SL according to the criteria set in the project description in cooperation with the team
• Facilitate the project implementation with local authorities and judicial actors;
• Develop a network of reliable contacts among lawyers, law enforcement authorities and jurisdictional bodies likely to raise awareness about ASF France project and ensure due process respect regarding the procedure under his supervision.

Required profile and qualifications

• Nigerian Lawyer with at least a 5 years post call experience;
• Knowledge of the Nigerian legal system and judicial actors;
• Background in criminal law, having worked in a leading practise;
• Experience in legal aid services;
• Ability work with external attorneys;
• Experience in collaborating with non-governmental organizations;
• Very strong interest and experience in human rights, especially with HR violations;
• Very good interpersonal skills, negotiation skills, good listening skills, team spirit, pressure tolerance and stress management and ability to ensure mission and stakeholder safety;
• Very good organizational skills, planning, adaptability, responsiveness, priority management, autonomy, ability to work in an emergency;
• Technology literacy, both in using tools such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and in adopting new collaboration tools such as Instant Messenger and web conferencing;
• Excellent sound verbal and written communication skills in English.

Profile of the ideal candidate

• The ideal candidate will have an interest and passion for human rights issues, strong communication skills and the ability to manage different aspects of a project.
• The candidate must be an enthusiastic, organised self-starter who is a positive team player with the ability both to work independently and to collaborate effectively with teams.
• The candidate must possess superior skills in both written and verbal communication, and in problem-solving.
• This description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by the employee within the position. The actual duties, responsibilities, scope and qualifications may vary to some degree.

Conditions

• Full-time job, 12 month contract, renewable.
• Conditions in conformity with the sector: salary + per diem.
• Expected trips to Lagos, Enugu and Kaduna.
• Will be part of a Franco-Nigerian team.
• Work under the supervision of the Project Manager and in close collaboration with other members of the team in Nigeria (support lawyers, Communication Officer and Financial and Administrative Officer) and in France (Program Officer and Finance Manager)