Legal Advisor Position - Cilc Haga Sucursala din Republica Moldova

Call for expression of interest - Legal advisors to support the Judicial Vetting Commission - Terms of reference

Background

In 2021, the government of the Republic of Moldova started the justice sector reform, aiming to ensure integrity and accountability of justice sector stakeholders and to increase society’s trust in the justice sector. As part of the justice sector reform, the government decided to conduct an extraordinary vetting exercise of judges and prosecutors, to improve the integrity in the justice sector.

This vetting process is a unique endeavour for the Moldovan society. It is a thorough and tough process that can happen only once in a good way. It asks a lot of society: there might be temporarily limited capacity in the justice sector, and it can have substantial consequences for personal careers. Yet it is also a historic process, that works towards the betterment of the Moldovan justice sector and will therefore have positive impact on Moldovan society in the end.

The Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC) is assigned by the European Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to facilitate the Commission on the vetting of judges (also known as ‘Commission 2’) and its Secretariat. CILC is now starting to build a team of professionals to staff this Secretariat. This call for experts aims to create a shortlist of motivated and qualified people for the following position of LEGAL ADVISOR:

The Commission members and the Secretariat will work in tandem on the vetting process. As a legal advisor to members of the Commission, you will work directly with the Commission members and the analysts and assist their work where needed, particularly from the legal side. At the same time, you are also part of the Secretariat, herewith forming a linking pin between the Commission and Secretariat. The legal advisor will report to the members of the Commission, to the Head of the Secretariat, and to the Senior Legal Advisor. As an advisor, being service-oriented and meticulous in your work and communication are the most important qualities.

Scope of work and responsibilities

The responsibilities of the legal advisors include but are not limited to:

• Providing legal advice to relevant files and documents at the request of Commission members and analysts;
• Assisting the Commission during meetings and hearings with the vetting candidates, if needed; 
• Supporting the analysts of the Secretariat in their research and analyses from the point of view of legislation and the Moldovan legislative context;
• Providing ad hoc interpretation and translation support to the members of the Commission;
• Undertaking investigative/analytical work as the situation may require.

Eligibility criteria

As a legal analyst, the following criteria make you eligible:

• Have a higher education law degree (License/Bachelor of Law) from an accredited university from Moldova or abroad; 
• Have 3 or more years of professional work experience. Experience in the Moldovan legal professions/justice sector or international jurisdiction bodies is an asset;
• Broad knowledge of Moldovan legal system;
• Affinity with the legal framework of the vetting process, including but not limited to ECHR judgments, Constitutional Court and Supreme Court of Justice decisions, Venice Commission opinions, as well as similar international practice, with a view to assist the Vetting Commission in its activity governed by Law 26/2022, Law 65/2023 and Law 252/2023 (”Vetting laws”); 
• Highly organized and detailed-oriented, able to work in a high-performance environment; 
• Strong legal research and legal writing skills;
• Strong communication skills, both orally and in writing; 
• Good written and spoken English (at least at C1 level of CEFR) and Romanian;
• Person of the highest personal and professional integrity.

General conditions for the position

Applicants should be aware of the following:

• The position is full-time.
• Project duration April 2023 – April 2026.
• Probation period – one month.
• Moldovan nationals offered a fulltime position may take a leave of absence and/or suspend their contractual obligations from their current Moldova based employer for the duration of this contract, but may not be actively engaged with, nor paid by any other organisation during the contract period.
• Remuneration is based on a CILC salary and service delivery grid specifying the scales per function. Actual remuneration will be based on the qualifications and experience of an applicant in line with the salary grid and employment/assignment policy of CILC. The monthly remuneration for this position is up to 6300 Euro brutto.
• When contracted, signing of a Non-Disclosure Agreement and abiding by the Code of Conduct for Secretariat staff is mandatory. This means amongst others no engagement with political parties/events and modest behaviour.
• CILC welcomes applications from candidates who fulfil the specific profiles, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion, belief or sexual orientation.

Procedure for application and selection

Expressions of interest can be submitted via email only, via secretariat@cilc.nl. Please include in the subject of the email for which position you express your interest. The deadline for submitting the applications is 15 January 2025. Applications submitted to other email addresses will be excluded from consideration. Required documents include: 

• Current CV – in English.
• Contact data of professional references including name, title, email address and phone number.
• A signed declaration on honour (see  https://www.cilc.nl/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Declaration-on-honour_RO_final.docx).

For each position, CILC will choose from the pool of expressions of interests the people who fit the positions best, against the criteria of: (i) Level of professional knowledge and experience, (ii) Level of professional skills/capacities. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted and invited for an (online) interview. A background check will be part of the recruitment procedure. 

By signing the Declaration on Honour, you declare not being in any of the below situations: 

• Have been sentenced by final judgment on one or more of the following charges: participation in a criminal organization, corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, child labour or trafficking in human beings;
• Have received a judgment with res judicata force, finding an offence that affects their professional integrity or serious professional misconduct;
• Do not comply with their obligations as regards payment of social security contributions, taxes and dues, according to the statutory provisions of their country of incorporation, establishment or residence;
• Have been involved in mismanagement of public funds;
• Are or appear to be in a situation of conflict of interest;
• Are or if their owner(s) or executive officer(s), in the case of legal persons, are included in the lists of persons or entities subject to restrictive measures applied by the European Union (available at sanctionsmap.eu).