Jobs and Careers

JOB DESCRIPTION: 

Background:
The Republic of Armenia acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in 1993. Armenia has also acceded to both the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, as well as a number of international and regional human rights instruments. In 1999, the Law on Refugees and Asylum was adopted, which has been amended several times. The latest amendments to the law were adopted in December 2015 and addressed a number of gaps further aligning the legislation with international law and standards. With the adoption of a new Constitution in December 2015, a number of rights will have added protection, such as the principle of non-refoulement and the right to seek asylum. Reference to the practice of Treaty Bodies when interpreting the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution further strengthened the human rights protection framework. Civil society, including partners of the Representation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Armenia, play an important role in ensuring proper application of the law, monitoring of Armenia's adherence to its international obligations and consolidating data that may support future advocacy regarding legislative reform. As of 30 June 2018, there are 17,996 refugees, including people in a refugee-like situation, 110 asylum-seekers and 791 stateless persons in Armenia. The main countries of origin of refugees are Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Iran. Normally strategic litigation is pursued in 1-2 cases (extradition and asylum, illegal crossing of the State border and asylum procedures) on a yearly basis.

Objective:
The "Mission Armenia" Charitable NGO is a UNHCR partner organization with a long-term experience in implementation of UNHCR-funded projects geared to providing legal, social, medical and shelter assistance to refugees, asylum-seekers and other displaced persons in Armenia (hereinafter "people of concern to UNHCR" (PoCs)). The "Mission Armenia" charitable NGO regularly comes across persons in need of qualified legal services in the field of criminal law in the framework of the project of legal assistance to UNHCR PoCs. For this purpose Mission Armenia, in cooperation with UNHCR, carries out a "mapping" and establishment of a professional database of qualified criminal lawyers with experience with ECtHR applications and interest in refugee protection.

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

- Work in cooperation and coordination with Mission Armenia and UNHCR to ensure fair, effective and efficient protection of Persons of Concern (PoCs) in Armenia;
- Provide legal counseling and assistance to PoCs;
- Draft official letters, applications and/ or complaints to relevant State institutions to address legal protection needs and problems of PoCs;
- Represent the legitimate interests of UNHCR's PoCs in criminal and other relevant administrative proceedings as a defender;
- Proactively provide expertise and assist with analysis of the national refugee-related legislation and practice;
- If required, submit in coordination with Mission Armenia applications to the Constitutional Court of Armenia and the European Court of Human Rights;
- Participate in refugee trainings, workshops and conferences to share experience and develop knowledge and skills in refugee protection.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

- Undergraduate degree (LL.B.) in Law;
- License of an advocate;
- At least 5 years of relevant work experience in criminal law and procedures;
- Proven experience of preparing/ submitting applications to the European Court of Human Rights;
- Experience of litigation before the Constitutional Court of Armenia will be considered an asset;
- Excellent communication skills with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills;
- Interest in protection of refugees, asylum-seekers and other displaced persons;
- Analytical thinking;
- Political awareness;
- Flexibility and ability to work with persons of diverse ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds;
- Ability to meet deadlines;
- Flexibility and readiness to work during non-working hours or willingness to communicate via telephone in case of urgency;
- Excellent command of Armenian and English languages; working knowledge of Russian or other languages would be considered an asset;
- Good computer skills.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES: 

Interested candidates are welcome to send their CV and a motivation letter to: **.*****@***.*******.** mentioning the position title ("Advocate Specializing in Criminal Law with Experience in ECtHR Applications") in the subject line of the email. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Please clearly mention in your application letter that you learned of this announcement through Career Center and mention the URL of its website - www.careercenter.am. Thanks.