The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) promotes and advances human rights and the rule of law in southern Africa, primarily through strategic litigation support and capacity building. SALC provides technical and monetary support to local and regional lawyers and organisations in litigating human rights and rule of law cases in the region. SALC also provides training in human rights and rule of law issues and facilitates networks of human rights lawyers and organisations throughout southern Africa.
SALC seeks to appoint a Programme Lawyer to be based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The purpose of this position is to find a highly qualified, motivated lawyer to join its team. SALC promotes and advances human rights and the rule of law in Southern Africa, primarily through strategic litigation support, advocacy and capacity building. SALC works in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Programme Lawyer will be responsible for carrying out SALC’s legal work and related advocacy, primarily in relation to the Equality, Socio-Economic Rights and Civil and Political Rights Clusters.
Responsibilities:
Providing and monitoring monetary support to local lawyers and organisations for on-going legal cases;
Developing relationships with local lawyers and non-governmental organisations;
Developing legal cases with a focus on Equality, Civil and Political Rights and Socio-Economic Rights issues;
Conducting legal and factual research and drafting reports for advocacy purposes;
Conducting advocacy, in conjunction with the Regional Advocacy Director, with respect to specific legal cases, including engaging in media advocacy;
Organising and convening meetings, trainings and conferences on key issues and representing SALC at meetings and conferences.
Requirements:
A degree in law is required; LL.M and other advanced degrees are desirable;
Experience in litigating on human rights matters, with particular preference given to applicants with experience in litigation and research on women’s rights, children’s rights, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity, and socio-economic rights;
Proven interest and experience in human rights issues, preferably in Africa;
Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
Ability to work comfortably in a variety of settings;
Engage easily with fellow colleagues from the Southern Africa region;
Experience in or familiarity with non-profit, non-governmental or intergovernmental organisations;
Excellent knowledge of international and regional human rights laws and instruments;
Knowledge and experience of working in the Southern Africa region;
Excellent legal and factual research skills including online sources;
Strong organisational skills and attention to detail;
Willingness to travel extensively.
Preference will be given to applicants who can start immediately and who do not require a work permit. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.
Interested applicants should send a letter of interest and a detailed CV (without copies of degrees or testimonials) to [email protected].
In the subject line of your e-mail, please insert “Application: Programme Lawyer”.
For more about the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, refer to www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org