10/11/2009
Tip: Oferta
Lawyer in Directorate
Internal Appeals Committee
Duration of contract: 3 years
The Internal Appeals Committee (IAC) is an advisory administrative body within the European Patent Office, contributing to the legal protection of the Office's staff. If an individual to whom the Service Regulations for employees of the EPO apply disagrees with an administrative decision, he/she may appeal against this decision. The IAC investigates internal appeals in a formal procedure and submits reasoned opinions when the appointing authority is the President of the Office. Based on the committee's findings and having regard to its opinion, the President shall take the final decision.
The IAC is supported by a team composed of six staff members (five lawyers and one administrative employee), who work under the authority of the chairman of the IAC. The team is now seeking an additional lawyer for the following:
Main Duties:
Preparatory legal work on staff appeals related to problems arising with the application of the Service Regulations and other staff rules (e.g. of the Office's social security system and its pension scheme).
Preparing of correspondence with persons involved in the appeal procedure in cases where legal input is required.
Legal studies on questions of international civil service law; analysing judgments by national and international courts with relevance for the EPO.
Organisational work before and after meetings of the IAC.
Participation in oral proceedings before the IAC (keeper of the minutes).
Helping to update and maintain the database of IAC opinions (drafting of abstracts).
Co-ordinating work to organise and maintain the IAC archives.
The ideal candidate will have:
Legal training and experience with a focus on administrative and international law, without prejudice to general basic knowledge of private and public law.
Experience in the field of litigation and administrative recourse procedures of international organisations, or professional experience in the application of civil service law would be an advantage.
Ability to think analytically and present arguments logically and legally well-founded, in a clear and persuasive and if necessary, in a concise manner.
Experience and advanced skills in drafting clear and well founded legal opinions.
Advanced oral and written communication skills.
Well organised, systematic and results-oriented approach with the ability to complete tasks under tight deadlines.
Language skills which enable the incumbent to work on internal appeals in all three official languages.
Ability to work well in a team, and to a large extent independently in the analysis of the facts, issues and arguments invoked by appellants.
Minimum Qualifications:
University degree in law or - in exceptional cases - equivalent professional experience. Excellent knowledge of one official language, and ability to understand the other two.
The successful candidate will be selected on the basis of qualifications, supplemented as appropriate by interviews, tests and/or a psychometric questionnaire.
Your application:
If this post appeals to you, our homepage at www.epo.org will provide you with additional information. Please complete the application form online quoting reference EUR/4788.
The closing date for applications is 16.11.2009.
