Legal Advisor on Migration and Refugees

The Division on Migration and Refugees (DMR) coordinates activities carried out by Council of Europe bodies and entities related to migration and asylum. It cooperates with other international organisations and entities working in this field and represents the Council of Europe in international fora. It advises Council of Europe member States, inter alia through the Network of National Focal Points on Migration and through fact-finding missions, to ensure that their policies and practices are compliant with Council of Europe standards, including the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

As a legal advisor, you will support the DMR by:

• Liaising with Council of Europe bodies and entities involved in legal work on migration and asylum issues, including the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Office of the Commissioner on Human Rights, the Secretariat of the Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT);
• Monitoring and analysing relevant legal developments in Council of Europe member States and international organisations, including the United Nations and the European Union and their agencies dealing with migration and refugees, and by providing advice to the SRSG and Council of Europe entities;
• Preparing documents for the DMR’s interaction with Council of Europe bodies and entities, international partners, and member States, including speaking and background notes, meeting agendas, minutes, and reports;
• Proposing and preparing fact-finding missions to member States, as well as taking part in these missions and drafting the respective reports;
• Participating in and contributing legal expertise to ongoing work on migration and refugees within the Council of Europe and within other international bodies, such as the consultative fora set up by the EUAA and FRONTEX;
• Coordinating the Network of National Focal Points on Migration.

As a minimum, you must:

• hold a higher education degree or qualification equivalent to a masters degree (2nd cycle of the Bologna process framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education) in law, preferably with a focus on the protection of human rights;
• have a minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in the protection of human rights;
• have a very good knowledge of one of the Council of Europe’s official languages (English/French) and good knowledge of the other (English/French); 
• be a citizen of one of the 46 member States of the Council of Europe.

• Operational - Analysis and problem solving
• Operational - Creativity and innovation
• Operational - Drafting skills
• Operational - Results orientation
• Interpersonal - Teamwork and co-operation

• Professional and technical expertise:

• knowledge and practice in the field of migration and asylum;
• knowledge of international relations.

• Managerial - Vision and Strategic Insight
• Interpersonal - Influencing

• Professional and technical expertise:

• In-depth knowledge of the case law and procedure of the European Court of Human Rights;
• Knowledge of the main Council of Europe conventions and their monitoring mechanisms;
• Strong drafting skills in either English and French.

This vacancy is for a secondment, ruled by Article 23 of Committee of Ministers’ Resolution CM/Res(2012)2. You can consult the conditions of secondment to the Council of Europe (days of leave, allowances etc.) on the webpage What we offer. This secondment does not foresee any allowances or travel expenses from the Organisation.

This secondment should start as soon as possible.

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page Our recruitment process of our Career's website. 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). Only applicants who meet the conditions of the Committee of Ministers’ Resolution CM/Res(2012)2) and who best meet the abovementioned criteria will be considered for selection and for the next stage.

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 beupdated 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].