Координатор із стратегічної судової роботи (Strategic Litigation Coordinator)

Introduction

The Right to Protection (R2P), an all-Ukrainian charitable foundation, in partnership with HIAS, that strives for Ukraine to become a country where refugees, stateless, non-citizens and displaced persons enjoy dignity and protection, launches the Advocacy and Legal Protection Programme funded by UNHCR to be implemented in 2019.

The Programme is aimed to provide protection and legal assistance to asylum seekers and refugees from around the world. The Programme also contributes to building a humane asylum system in Ukraine by training local judges, immigration and law-enforcement officials, and law students, and by developing legislative proposals and administrative regulations.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

The Strategic Litigation Coordinator will be reported to the Director as a functional manager of the organization, and work in close cooperation with the Pillar 1&2 Project Managers.

The incumbent will be tasked, within 3 months from taking the position, to develop and maintain an identification  framework  for strategic cases for litigation, capacity building of the R2P Pillar 1&2 legal team regarding strategic litigation and, during the entire period of the service, to provide crucial advice to R2P caseworkers on human rights issues affecting refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people, including preparation of strategic claims, other submissions and communications on the issues mentioned below by utilising domestic remedies and international human rights mechanisms.

Project Implementation

The Strategic Litigation Coordinator will:

• identify and provide legal assistance in various strategic cases selected based on assessment of their systemic impact to address existing flaws in the domestic legislation and administrative practices in the field of asylum and statelessness and will be drawn from across Ukraine; participate in the Eligibility Committee (to be established as part review of the legal assistance programme) for selection of strategic cases to be litigated, including cases that could not be well-founded but address serious procedural gaps;
• provide recommendations for improving the legal assistance programme;
• provide on-going advisory support to the R2P regional lawyers;
• deliver training for the R2P lawyers on strategic litigation, European Convention on Human Rights standards, UN treaties and remedies;
• identify potential cases, the availability of potential victims willing to engage, availability of witness and /or other evidence to prove the alleged violations, national, regional or international context in which the case can be taken, and with the support the Project Managers and Advocacy Coordinator, identify the persons or authorities responsible for violations, potential of the case to attract media attention and to generate public discourse, and communicating cases to the media in close coordination with UNHCR.
• establish close collaboration and working arrangements with the project national and international partners to ensure timely conduct of the projects’ activities related to the strategic litigation component, including the collection of monitoring data for project reporting requirements;
• establish close collaboration and working arrangements with other UNHCR partners providing legal assistance to refugees/asylum-seekers and stateless persons or persons at risk – informing UNHCR;
• coordinate the project activities on developing a network of pro bono attorneys at law offices and attorney’s associations and other providers of free legal aid to undertake or assist with impact litigation;
• in cooperation with the Legal Assistance to Stateless Persons team will contribute for the European Network on Statelessness Strategic Litigation Online Forum and keep engaged in reflecting on R2P litigation efforts.
• deliver strategic communication/messages to judges through participation in trainings for judges.

Priority Areas:

• Formal rejections in admission after one day review;
• Lack of interpretation provided from the side of the State Migration Service rejection in “oformlenie”;
• Detention of unaccompanied and separated children in Migrant Custody Centers;
• Abolishment of work permits for asylum seekers (and possibility for all asylum seekers to receive tax code, irrespective of availability of their valid national passport with State Migration Service). Given that asylum seekers receive no state assistance and requirements for work permits are impossible to fulfill in practice;
• Access to citizenship for complementary protection status holders;
• Recognition of Ukrainian citizenship with people who lost identity documents issued by State Migration Service in Donetsk and Luhansk regions before the armed conflict erupted;
• Prolonged detention of stateless people in Migrant Custody Centers;
• Detention in Migrant Custody Centers for the identification purposes without due diligence from State Migration Service side.

Reporting and Accountability

• Produce high quality and timely reports in line with UNHCR guidelines within agreed deadlines.
• Comply with all relevant R2P and UNHCR policies and procedures, particularly with respect to child protection, confidentiality, non-discrimination and the code of conduct.

Required qualifications

• Higher education in law, international relations.
• Minimum 5 years of work experience as a practicing lawyer in a Human Rights context at both national and international level.
• Excellent knowledge of national and international human rights legal aid instruments including Ukrainian law, the European Court on Human Rights and United Nations remedies.
• Specific knowledge of the migration issues at the international and national levels.
• Proven track record of strategic litigation at Ukrainian courts and the European Court on Human Rights.
• Well-developed organization capacities, good communication and presentation skills, high level of responsibility, computer literacy, experience in planning and analysis of fulfilled work.
• Cultural sensitivity and diplomacy.
• Readiness to travel within designated area.
• Excellent Ukrainian, Russian and English language proficiency.
• Experience of public speaking and training delivery.

We offer

R2P will offer the successful applicant a contract in line with Ukrainian legislation, renewable depending on funding and performance.

Application process

Send résumé to [email protected]. Responses will be sent only to those individuals who were selected for interview. No phone calls, please.

For more information about organization, please, visit our web-site.

Applications close date

21 January 2019. If an appropriate candidate is identified, R2P reserves the right to recruit ahead of this deadline.