Legal Jobs at Gakenke District, Prison Fellowship Rwanda (PFR) and Haguruka NGO

JOB DETAILS:

Civil Registration and Notary Officer
Level:6.II
Job description
• Provide notary services to the public as per the competencies set forth by the law;
• Deliver all documents related to civil registration;
• Register and consolidate disaggregated data related to civil registration status in the Sector;
• Receive and analyse contentious issues and accordingly provide a legal advice to the Sector. Minimum Qualifications

Competency and Key Technical Skills
• Integrity
• Strong critical thinking skills and excellent problem solving skills.
• Inclusiveness
• Accountability
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Client/citizen focus
• Professionalism
• Commitment to continuous learning

JOB DETAILS:
Legal Officer
Duty Station: Nyabiheke Gatsibo District.
Job type: Full-Time
Duration: 4Months with possibility of extension.
Background
Prison Fellowship Rwanda (PFR) is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with the government of Rwanda and its relevant agencies, local and international partners and volunteers to foster restorative justice, unity and reconciliation, peace building, psychosocial healing initiatives, promotion of human rights and provision of legal assistance and development in Rwanda. Prison Fellowship Rwanda was founded on 01/07/1995, affiliated to the Prison Fellowship International in 1997. It was officially registered and recognized by the ministerial law no 037/17, of 23/10/2002 as a non- profit organization and published in official gazette of the Republic of Rwanda in 2002.
Prison Fellowship Rwanda in partnership with UNHCR and the Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) is ensuring access to justice and respect of human rights is strengthened by providing legal assistance, legal education, civil registration and documentation to refugees living in different Camps. Currently Prison Fellowship Rwanda is looking for a qualified and highly motivated candidate of high moral character and professional integrity to fulfil the position of Legal Officer to manage the overall project implementation at Camp site.

Key Responsibilities
Under the Supervision of the Project Coordinator, the Legal officer is responsible to undertake the following specific tasks:
• Ensuring that all project components are implemented according to the project plans, in order to meet all goals and objectives;
• Be responsible to support the day-to-day management of the project to ensure its effective, efficient and cost-sensitive management;
• Ensure the annual and quarterly planning, implementation of activities, monitoring/reviewing of activities, timely reporting as per project agreement;
• Monitor project plans and ensure the overall coordination of the project activities and coordinate the work of paralegals;
• Conducting group Refugee Status Determination periodic workshops/classes to educate asylum seekers about mandate RSD procedures and how to prepare their claims;
• Detention monitoring of detention facilities throughout the country to ensure that any detained person of concern receives justice;
• Ensure that refugees/asylum seekers understand the importance of immediate civil registration;
• Be responsible for the elaboration of project progress, annual, monthly and other types of reports;
• Facilitate Asylum seekers Applicants’ ability to exercise their right, wherever possible;
• To provide an Asylum seeker’s applicant sound, confidential legal and procedural advice, to ensure that asylum’s applicant refugee claim is fully and accurately presented, and that the asylum seekers Applicant’s rights are protected and respected throughout the UNHCR RSD procedure;
• Provide assistance with the completion of various form and documents relevant to the RSD process;
• Develop and encourage new and innovative solutions that will contribute to sustainable improvements of well-being of refugees/asylum seekers ;
• Providing legal assistance and representation to person of concern;
• Contributing towards development of IEC materials;
• Represent the organization in different meetings and other relevant events related to the project;
• Facilitation of civil registration;
• Ensure a strong collaboration with partners including UNHCR, MINEMA and other implementing partners on the field;
• Attendance of interviews throughout the RSD process, including where applicable at the appeal stage, as well as in re-opening procedures and procedures for cancellation, revocation or cessation of refugee status.
• Leading of awareness-raising sessions on human rights and crime prevention
• Perform any other task assigned by the management in relation to a success of the project.

Essential skills and qualifications
The candidate must meet the following minimum qualifications and experience:
• Skills and Abilities: Fluency in written and spoken English, Kinyarwanda and Knowledge of French will be added advantage.
• Skills and Competencies: Demonstrated success achieving goals and communicating cross-culturally.
• Be a team player, detail-oriented, patient, professional, and reliable.
• Strongly motivated by humanitarian work
• Able to work under pressure, especially in court hearing proceedings
• Open-minded and adaptable
• At least 3 years of experience of working in the field with direct engagement with persons of concern.
• Demonstrated expertise in the field of Protection, Legal aid, Community rehabilitation services, mediation, counselling, and humanitarian settings.

Qualifications.
• Bachelor in Law; good knowledge of human rights standards, Rwanda national laws, good knowledge of alternative dispute resolution methodologies and RDS procedures"


JOB DETAILS:
Legal Officer
Background
Founded in 1991, Haguruka is a non-governmental organization registered under Rwandan law working towards empowering women and children to claim their rights by improving their access to quality justice across the country. With head office in Kigali (the capital city of Rwanda) the organization has regional offices in the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western provinces of the country. Haguruka has a zero-tolerance approach towards sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment; and the organization implements programs that address the immediate human rights needs of vulnerable women and children while working towards combating Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and promoting gender equality.

Haguruka has the following three thematic areas are:
• Legal aid and psychosocial counseling support,
• Capacity development and awareness raising
• Research and advocacy.
Funded by A4ID, Haguruka is implementing a pro-bono legal aid project to support civil society organizations (CSOs) providing free legal services to the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Kigali using the expertise of Clifford Chance lawyers, as well as local Rwanda lawyers and law students.
With the above background, Haguruka is recruiting “a qualified legal officer” to provide legal aid services to poor and vulnerable right-holders under the direct supervision of the program department.

Major Responsibilities Include:
• Providing legal aid services to the beneficiaries or rights holders via a toll-free line
• Draft legal briefs for right holders and submit cases through the IECMS system;
• Accompany and prepare notes, memoranda, letters, and other documents on legal matters to different institutions for legal and advocacy purposes;
• Maintain good collaboration with districts, Access to Justice Bureaus (MAJ), and Justice, Reconciliation, Law, and Order (JRLOS) district committees.
• Coordinate and maintain collaboration with the paralegals working under the area covered by the duty station;
• Draft and submit field reports, quarterly and annual reports to the supervisor
• Prepare court submissions to clients and other administrative correspondences and legal writings as required by the supervisor;
• Participate in meetings, workshops, and seminars;
• Perform any other duties as required by the supervisor

Reporting
The Legal Officer will directly report to the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer or her/his designee

Qualifications And Technical Skills(Essential(E) And Experience (D)
• Bachelor’s degree in law; E
• At least 3 years of working experience in the domain; E
• Able to prepare legal opinions and briefs; E
• Excellent and strong reporting skills; D
• Demonstrated capacity in community mobilization; D
• Self–motivated and able to work with minimum supervision; D
• Excellent written and spoken Kinyarwanda and English; D
• Proficiently in the use of Microsoft office suites (Words & Excel preferably); E
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, E
• Ability to establish and maintain an effective working relationship with fellow employees and members of the public, D
• Ability to interpret and explain as well as analyze the law and legal issues, E
• Knowledge of legal principles, practices, and procedures; E