Legal Assistant

  INTERSOS LEBANON National Staff Position _____________________________________________________________________________ Position:          Legal Assistant Job site:           Roving Mount Lebanon and South Lebanon Report to:         Legal Consultant and Project Manager Status:              Full time employment contract _______________________________________________________________________   The Legal Assistant is responsible for supporting the Legal Consultants (Lawyers) in providing legal information, and counseling to vulnerable persons, in accordance with INTERSOS’ mandate, priorities and donor agreements. The Legal Assistant will focus on provision of support to survivors of SGBV, Women at Risk, and children affected by Child Protection concerns, that are already receiving case management support under the INTERSOS programme in Mount Lebanon and South of Lebanon. The Legal consultant directly reports to the INTERSOS Project Manager with the technical supervision of the Legal Consultants and the Protection Coordinator.   Project component:   INTERSOS is providing case management services to Women at Risk, survivors of SGBV, and children affected by Child Protection concerns. As part of the case management support we offer, beneficiaries are provided with legal assistance where relevant. This assistance can include legal counselling and advice, support in dealing with legal procedures, legal representation in court, and mediation between the two parties or parties indirectly involved where needed. The lawyer will also be requested to provide counselling support and advise to the INTERSOS team in dealing with particular     Main legal issues to be covered: -          Family Law -          Legal identity including obtaining civil documentation necessary to access rights and services (birth registration, marriage registration) -          Citizenship and statelessness issues related to displacement Exceptionally, the team may engage in other thematic areas related to family law including dispute of custody, divorce procedures, which are issues strictly related to the case management as well.   Responsibilities/duties for the legal assistant: Conduct basic interviews with refugees in order to assess legal and urgent protection needs of the clients, especially GBV survivors and children with legal concerns. Provide individual and/or family legal information to beneficiaries, in order to orient them and make them aware about the legal procedures available and most suitable for each case. Undertake follow-up visits to clients in very specific cases (if there are no safety concerns). Attend meetings and workshop/training as requested by the Legal Consultant and the Project Manager. Plan, develop and conduct legal awareness sessions for the Refugees community and host community. Write report of the awareness sessions. Be involved in the office organization of awareness sessions or any other topic to be decided according to the need, in close coordination with the Legal Consultant. Respect deadline for the delivering of weekly and monthly reports and any kind of urgent reporting to the Project Manager. Any other task not listed here but necessary to the project and activities. Available to work extra hours and available at the weekend for emergency cases.   Qualifications: Education and experience: -          University degree in law. Advanced university degree, preferably with the specialization in Family Law or Humanitarian Law; -          Relevant experience working on refugee related legal problems; -          Prior experience in working with governmental authorities is added value; -          Familiarity with international protection and human rights legal standards; -          Knowledge on how to communicate with vulnerable population groups, such as women, children, youth, elderly, disable and refugees   Skills and traits: -          Young and dynamic -          Excellent command of (written and spoken) Arabic and English; -          Computer/IT literacy (OS Windows/Linux, MS Office, Internet etc.); -          Excellent analysis and reporting; -          Previous experience in GBV and Child Protection Sector is an asset: -          Excellent communication and organization; -          Excellent knowledge and understanding of local communities and customary rules; -          Punctuality and respect for applicable rules and procedures; -          Strongly objective and impartial reasoning; -          Ethical and transparent decision-making; -          Independence, i.e. conducting tasks with minimal supervision, and stress resilience; -          Self-motivation, goal/result-orientation and team work; -          Flexibility, tolerance and maturity.