Legal Adviser to Civil Rights Defenders in Stockholm

Are you passionate about human rights and want to be part of a global movement of human rights defenders? Do you want to work in an international environment with colleagues all over the world? Civil Rights Defenders has secured funding to expand our work focusing on the rights of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in Sweden and along the migration routes to/in the EU, and is now looking for an experienced human rights lawyer to be responsible for this work.

About the role
As a Legal Adviser (LA) you work in the Legal Department as part of a team of lawyers under the supervision of the Legal Director. The LA works to improve compliance with international human rights standards and to hold duty bearers to account, in Sweden and other countries, in cooperation with human rights defenders (HRDs) working in the local or regional context. The work is conducted in line with the organisation’s vision and mission, its strategy, and yearly action plans, as well as the core values and ways of working of the organisation.

The LA is responsible for developing and implementing the organisation’s legal work, mainly in the thematic area of migration and cooperates closely with other staff in the Department and in other departments to achieve set goals and targets. The LA develops, manages, and implements projects and is responsible for coordinating the work of project staff in the Department and across the organisation and in other organisations that we partner with. The LA will be responsible for a new joint project with Human Rights Watch, focusing on the rights of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in Sweden and along the migration routes to/in the EU.

The main areas of responsibilities are:

- Legal work, including strategic litigation, based on international Migration Law, International Human Rights Law, and International Criminal Law as well as EU law and national legislation in Sweden and other countries.

- Advocacy work, including: drafting of public reports and statements; organising of seminars and meetings with relevant stakeholders and; contributing to communications and media work, nationally and internationally.

- Capacity support to HRDs and partner organisations, including legal advice, legal trainings and financial support.

- Project development, implementation and management, including financial management.

- Strategy development, including legal and advocacy strategies.

About you

As a person, you are analytical and a strategist who identifies problems and develops workable solutions by extracting key information and evaluating the context using multiple perspectives. It is important for you to maintain and uphold high ethical standards and to take clear ethical stands.

You like to plan, organise, and prioritize your work in an efficient way to keep time frames and deliver results according to organisational goals and quality standards. You have the interest and ability to collaborate with and relate to other people in a responsive and smooth way, we are sure that you will thrive in this role.

Furthermore, you have shown proof of seeking out new challenges, assignments and responsibilities and wish to use these strengths to promote Civil Rights Defenders' cause in our work and challenges ahead.

We assume that you share our values.

To be suitable for this role you have a Master of Laws, LL.M., or equivalent, with specialization in migration law, human rights law, international criminal law or related area and at least 3 years of relevant work experience within in the areas of human rights and asylum and migration. You are well aquainted with Swedish law in these areas.

You also have experience of litigating asylum and migration cases in national, regional and/or international courts, such as the European Court of Human Rights. You should also have work experience from a civil society organisation, an intergovernmental or governmental organisation, or tribunal focusing on human rights, international humanitarian law or international criminal law.

It is also a strong asset if you have experience of project management, legal and advocacy work related to asylum law, human rights, including report writing, and communications and media work.

We also believe that you have excellent knowledge and stylistic writing abilities in Swedish and English in speech and writing.

It is a merit, if you have

- Experience of working with regional or international systems for the protection of human rights, such as the Council of Europe, the Inter-American or the UN systems, including judicial mechanisms.

- Experience of staff management.

- Contacts and networks within relevant authorities and organisations in the field of refugee and asylum law.

- Work experience in the areas of equality and non-discrimination, constitutional law and/or (international) criminal law.

- Experience of developing project proposals and raise funds from donors.

About the employment

This is a full-time permanent employment with an initial 6-months probation period starting in September 2023 or according to agreement. As an organisation, we strive for diversity and we see your background, experience and personality as a contribution to the organisation. You will be based in Stockholm at our headquarters.

We offer you a pleasant and modern workplace that values flexibility when it comes to working hours and the possibility to work remotely. We apply Collective Agreement with Fremia.

Please apply as soon as possible  as we recruit on an ongoing basis, but no later than 20 August 2023.

For more information about the recruitment process, please contact HR Mirjam Warne: mirjam.warne@crd.org (6-21 July) and Mikael Wu Björk mikael.wu.bjork@crd.org (from 31/7).

Local union representative: joanna.hellstrom@crd.org (Unionen).

About us

Civil Rights Defenders is a politically and religiously independent international human rights organisation. We defend people’s civil and political rights in some of the world’s most repressive regions. We partner with and support human rights defenders in more than 300 organisations in 50 countries on four continents. Together with our partners, we hold those in power accountable when people’s civil or political rights are violated. We also act as Sweden’s civil rights watchdog. Civil Rights Defenders has around 100 staff members working in various functions towards our vision - a world of democratic societies in which we all enjoy our civil and political rights...