Lawyer - Lebanon Programme

Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) is a unique non-profit network and think tank of lawyers which provides creative legal assistance in fragile and conflict-affected areas and places national lawyers at the forefront of legal change. LAW uses advocacy, research, legal empowerment and strategies to bring about this change. LAW’s thematic focuses include: Addressing Sexual and Gender based Violence; Accountability; Natural Resource Exploitation/displacement; and Transitional Justice. LAW’s Advisory Council and Board are comprised of senior international lawyers who advise LAW on the development of innovative casework and legal strategies. LAW’s ground-breaking work has received international media coverage, including in the New York Times, the Times of London, the Guardian, Al-Jazeera, France24, Voice of America, Huffington Post and Foreign Policy.

Dealing with the Past

Lebanon’s 15-year civil war waged from 1975 until 1990, which involved a range of local and international actors, two parallel occupations by Israel and Syria, and a string of high-profile assassinations. According to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 75% of Lebanese citizens have personally lived through armed conflict with 96% of citizens having been affected in some way, whether personally or through the wider consequences of armed conflict. Lebanon’s civil war led to the deaths of over 100,000 civilians and the disappearance of approximately 17,000. A general amnesty law that was introduced in 1991 precluded the legal prosecution of war crimes and created discriminatory and unequal legal protections based on status. Women have been severely impacted by periods of conflict in Lebanon. The 2006 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which Lebanon has signed but not yet ratified, identifies both the disappeared as well as their family as victims of enforced disappearance.

Women make up the minority of the disappeared but are disproportionately affected as most family members of the disappeared, who suffer socioeconomic and psychological disadvantages following the loss of a male family member who is often the main source of income. Wives and children of the disappeared cannot ‘forgive and forget’ and the life-long nature of this violation is well-established. Gender-sensitive approaches to transitional justice are thus needed. The project is funded by UN Women and will focus on women victims and survivors from the civil war until current time. The project will offer psychosocial support, legal assistance and avenues for storytelling to empower and enable survivors to express their experiences and to address their legal and psychosocial needs. 

LAW will design and implement tailored capacity-building programmes for legal assistance NGOs, paralegals and lawyers on psychological and legal requirements of evidence gathering with survivors of gender-based crimes.

LAW seeks an enthusiastic/ dynamic lawyer to support the Lebanon Programme. You must be able to work individually and remotely as well as be able to coordinate and work closely within a team

Functions/Key Deliverables Expected

The Project Lawyer has the following responsibilities:

▪ Oversee the work of Legal Information Officers;

▪ To interview survivors and take their statements

▪ Overall responsibility of the technical/legal work;

▪ Overall responsibility of reaching programme targets;

▪ Liaise with partners providing technical advice and services;

▪ Organise and participate in regular workshops and panels related to project activities;

▪ Organise, implement and assist with trainings on Conflict Related Sexual Violence, Civil

Documentation and other justice issues related to the Civil War.

Management

• Supervise Legal Information Officers (LIOs) work and ensure accuracy, quality and efficiency of

the legal assistance provided;

• Attend regular meetings with the LIOs to monitor progress and discuss observations and lessons

learned;

• Organise outreach schedules of the LIOs on a weekly basis and ensure these are carried out

accordingly;

• Deliver reports and ensure they are filled accurately;

• Ensure that the team is planning and organizing work so that targets can be reached.

Legal

• Provide technical expertise to interview survivors;

• Provide legal assistance and representation according to intake and eligibility criteria;

• Identify and meet with survivors of conflict related sexual violence since the beginning of the

Lebanese Civil War;

• Identify and create referral networks clients in need of medical and psychological support;

• Identify women and survivors that are willing/interested to share their stories from the civil war;

• Conduct desk review of existing documentation of legal, medical and psychosocial needs of families

of the disappeared and of conflict related gender-based crimes committed during the war;

• Organise and oversee Focus Group Discussion with survivors of gendered crimes;

• Analyse, cross-reference and organise the body of evidence into LAW’s secure centralized system

(SharePoint) according to client intake criteria;

• Support the drafting of a legal assistance strategy which identifies patterns of gender-based crimes,

and potential legal avenues since the civil war;

• Contribute to monthly reports and include success stories.

Support and administration

• Take on any administrative, logistical or other support tasks needed to ensure the project runs

smoothly, or that are assigned by LA management;

• Adhere to deadlines and take on tasks proactively.

Experience, Skills and Qualifications Required:

• Qualified lawyer with demonstrated 3 years’ work experience;

• Excellent written and oral Arabic AND English;

• Experience in interviewing survivors of gender-based violence/experience in investigating gendered

crimes and/or working with missing people;

• Experience in drafting legal analysis and position papers and strategies;

How to Apply:

Please email a CV and statement of interest in English (neither exceeding 2 pages of A4) on or before 30th August 2020 to: recruitment@legalactionworldwide.org

The subject of the application should read ‘Dealing with the Past – Project Lawyer’.

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews. • LAW is an equal opportunity employer.

• Women lawyers with experience representing at-risk clients are particularly encouraged to apply.