Human Rights Lawyer - Hungarian Law

The team within which you will work in the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (hereafter "the Court") advises and assists the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in its functions of supervision of the execution of judgments of the Court, in accordance with Article 46, paragraph 2, of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Department also provides support to the member states in their efforts to achieve full, effective and prompt execution of the judgments of the Court, in the cases to which they are parties.

As a Human Rights Lawyer, you will:

• manage a certain number of cases forwarded by the Court to the Committee of Ministers for supervision of their execution;
• identify the execution measures required, in compliance with the deadlines set and with any specific instructions;
• prepare documents comprising the legal assessments required for Committee of Ministers “Human Rights” meetings (including memoranda, “briefing” notes, draft resolutions and draft decisions, and, where necessary, summaries of the meeting proceedings);
• maintain correspondence with respondent Governments, applicants and other interested parties;
• co-operate and maintain dialogue with various instances concerned by the supervision of the execution of the Court’s judgments and decisions (in particular with Permanent Representations, government agents, national bodies responsible for execution of the judgments, NGOs, and national human rights institutes);
• participate in the relevant meetings of the Committee of Ministers and follow up cases pursuant to the decisions taken;
• prepare information documents, summaries, studies and reports for the attention, in particular, of the Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, the Director of Human Rights and the Head of the Department;
• take part, on request, in technical co-operation activities which may involve missions;
• contribute actively to the performance of other specific tasks of the Department.

• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Operational - Analysis and problem solving
• Operational - Drafting skills
• Operational - Concern for quality
• Interpersonal - Teamwork and co-operation

• Professional and technical expertise:

• thorough knowledge of the legal system in Hungary and ability to handle cases arising in other jurisdictions;
• good knowledge of international law, notably European human rights law.

• Managerial - Decision making
• Interpersonal - Adaptability
• Interpersonal - Initiative

• Professional and technical expertise:

• knowledge of the process of the execution of judgments;
• knowledge of the international political, economic, social and cultural context, allowing the process of supervising the execution of judgments and decisions of the Court to be placed in perspective.

This job vacancy is for an international external recruitment. You can consult the conditions of employment (salaries, allowances, pension scheme, social insurance, etc.) on the webpage What we offer. 

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page Our recruitment process. This recruitment is carried out in accordance with Article 490 of the Council of Europe Staff Rules. The deadline for applications is indicated in the General information section of this vacancy notice (see above) and is fixed at 23:59:59 Central European Time (CET). When applying, make sure your motivation shows how your competencies make your profile the best for the role.

As an equal opportunity employer, the Council of Europe welcomes applications from all suitably qualified people, irrespective of sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, disability, religion or belief. Under its equal opportunity policy, the Council of Europe is aiming to achieve gender parity in staff employed in each category and grade. At the time of appointment, preference beetwen suitable people shall be given to the person of the gender which is under-represented in the relevant grades within the category to which the vacancy belongs.

Applicants with specific needs are encouraged to request reasonable accommodations at any stage during the recruitment process. Please contact us at [email protected], we will ensure that your request is handled.

The information published on the CoE’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication of the vacancy notice. Any changes to these conditions during the recruitment process will be updated on our Portal and will apply at the time of the job offer. Our career's website is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have. Should you have remaining questions, please contact us at [email protected].