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General Information

Vacancy number
951/2025
Recruitment type
External recruitment (international)
Type of contract
CDD
Posted date
17-Feb-2025
Deadline to apply
10-Mar-2025
Duty station
Strasbourg
Grade
A1/A2
Entity
Registry of the European Court of Human Rights

Description & Requirements

Your Team

The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in the member States. Individuals can bring complaints of human rights violations to the Strasbourg Court once all possibilities of appeal have been exhausted in the member State concerned.

The Court is divided into five sections, the composition of which is fixed for three years. Each of these sections comprises different units organised per country. You will be assigned to one of these units, which is made up of both experienced lawyers and assistant lawyers whose number varies mainly according to the number and type of cases linked to the country. Each unit also has dedicated administrative support. On arrival, you will receive comprehensive training and will be fully integrated into your unit.

Your Role

As a lawyer, you will:

  • manage a certain number of case-files in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Court’s procedures:
    • examine and deal with applications lodged with the Court in accordance with the general time-limits, internal guidelines and specific country-management meetings instructions; 
    • maintain correspondence with the applicants and, where appropriate, with Governments and third parties; 
    • prepare case-files for the examination by a Judge-rapporteur and for submission to the Court; 
    • ensure legal analysis;
    • attend the Court's sessions and present cases; 
    • draft judgments, decisions, minutes, reports, notes and other documents; 
    • undertake studies and research relating to the case-law of the Court and national law;
    • analyse and distribute information concerning the Court’s case-law;
  • advise and report to a Senior Legal Adviser: report on the results achieved, on further requirements, risks and opportunities of developments or events;
  • communicate in matters concerning the case-files:
    • ensure that all those concerned are informed appropriately;
    • maintain contacts with counterparts;
  • promote the values of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights internally and externally.
Requirements to apply

You must:

  • hold a higher education degree or qualification equivalent to a master’s degree (2nd cycle of the Bologna process framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area) in law obtained in Poland permitting access, either on the basis of qualifications or after passing a competitive examination, to the judicial administration or legal professions in Poland; the degree (dyplom magistra prawa) must have been obtained in Poland;
  • after having obtained the relevant university degree in law, have at least two years of professional experience acquired in the legal field (preferably in the judicial service) in Poland or in international Organisations;
  • have an excellent knowledge of Polish (first language level);
  • have very good knowledge of one of the two official languages of the Council of Europe (English or French) and knowledge of the other;
  • have the ability to draft legal texts clearly and precisely in English or French;
  • be a citizen of one of the member States of the Council of Europe and fulfil the conditions for appointment to the civil service of that state;
  • have discharged any obligation concerning national service (military, civil or comparable);
  • not be the parent, child, stepchild or grandchild of a serving staff member of the Council of Europe;
  • be under the age of 65 years.
Your application must demonstrate to what extent you have the competencies listed below. To help you doing so, feel free to consult our competency framework.

Key competencies
  • 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 Polish legal system and ability to handle cases arising in other jurisdiction;
    • knowledge of European Union law and international law.
Desirable competencies
  • Managerial - Decision making
  • Operational - Learning and development
  • Interpersonal - Communication
What we offer

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.

Applications and selection procedure

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page Our recruitment steps. 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.

Important information

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 between 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].