Senior Legal Officer or Legal Officer

ABOUT US

Established in 1987, ARTICLE 19 works for a world where all people everywhere can freely express themselves and actively engage in public life without fear of discrimination. Our mission is to promote and defend the universal human rights of freedom of expression and information around the world, through international advocacy, legal analysis, and regional and national projects. Our international secretariat is based in London, however we have established regional teams based in the Americas, Asia, Europe, MENA and Africa.

ROLE SUMMARY

Under the supervision of the Senior Director for Law and Policy, the post holder will play a crucial role in protecting freedom of expression and freedom of information globally, delivering cutting edge leadership of ARTICLE 19 in this area.

The post-holder will provide legal and policy expertise, including through analysing laws and policies on freedom of expression and freedom of information; international, regional and national litigation; researching and monitoring new developments and trends, in particular in the digital sphere, with the view of identifying and responding to key concerns and opportunities. The post holder will focus specifically on platforms regulation (content aspects), freedom of expression and national security and freedom of expression and privacy. S/he will be also developing and promoting ARTICLE 19 policies and positions on a variety of freedom of expression and freedom of information issues, campaigning for progressive legal reforms, developing resource materials and delivering trainings for ARTICLE 19 stakeholders.

Further, the post holder will contribute to the Law and Policy Team’s strategic and operational planning and reporting and will be directly responsible for the management and implementation of one or more legal projects. S/he will work closely with ARTICLE 19 regional offices and programmes to address emerging challenges to freedom of expression and freedom of information in respective regions, and to identify new opportunities for engagement and advocacy on them in target countries and regions.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Provide high level legal and policy advice:

Contribute to standard setting on freedom of expression and information at ARTICLE 19, in particular in relation to platforms regulation, national security and privacy, through legal research, producing draft policies and policy statements, and promoting adopted ARTICLE 19 policies at various forums;
Analyse and critique respective laws and legislative proposals from the perspective of international and regional legal standards;
Produce for a range of external audiences legal analyses, statements, policy briefs and press releases on relevant freedom of expression issues;
Provide sound, timely high quality legal and policy advice to ARTICLE 19 regional teams and stakeholders on relevant freedom of expression issues;
Work closely with ARTICLE 19’s regional offices and teams to address emerging challenges to freedom of expression and information in respective regions in the area of focus and identify new opportunities for ARTICLE 19 engagement and advocacy on them;
Develop and deliver trainings to lawyers, media workers, civil society activists, human rights defenders and other stakeholders in target countries and regions;
Draft legal submissions and legal briefs and assist lawyers in litigation of freedom of expression cases;
Monitor global legal and policy trends with regard to area of focus and identify key areas of concerns and involvement for ARTICLE 19.

2. Contribute to the Law and Policy Team’s strategic planning, development and projects implementation:

Contribute to the development and implementation of relevant legal strategies and plans of the Law and Policy Programme in the focus area;
Contribute to and assist in development of fund-raising proposals and maintain strong working relationships with donors if required;
Ensure effective and timely implementation of assigned project/s, including effective work planning, budget management and narrative and financial reporting and project evaluation (for the Senior Legal Officer post, the management of larger scale project/s will be required.

3. Other:

Maintain and increase ARTICLE 19 networks of stakeholders globally, including legislators, policy makers, regulators, civil society and companies and expand them;
Represent ARTICLE 19 as appropriate at conferences and events and to various audiences and forums, and occasionally act as media spokesperson;
Contribute to ARTICLE 19 publications and media outputs;
Undertake such other reasonable tasks as may be assigned by the Senior Director for Law and Policy.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

ESSENTIAL

Education/Training/Knowledge:

Law degree, preferably at masters’ level or higher with specialisation either in international human rights law and/or digital technologies;
Sound knowledge of international law on freedom of expression and information and a solid grasp of standards on freedom of expression and digital technologies, in particularly content regulation, national security and privacy;
Thorough knowledge of international and regional human rights law and mechanisms in general and of recent developments at the international level.

Skills and Abilities:

Outstanding writing skills and spoken fluency in English and French languages, adaptable for targeting different audiences;
Theoretical and practical understanding of gender attitudes and power dynamics and how these shape MEL approaches and Ability to design, manage and implement projects with legal and policy focus;
Excellent public speaking and interpersonal skills;
Ability to work under pressure and manage time effectively to complete a variety of tasks, without administrative support;
High level of organization and self-motivation;
Ability to show leadership, to take initiative, and to work independently and a part of a team;
Proficiency (spoken and written) in a second UN Language, preferably Arabic.

Experiences:

Experience of working in the field of freedom of expression and of information, especially digital technologies (for the Senior Legal Officer post, substantial legal and policy experience is required);
Experience in writing and/or editing materials for publications, such as legal analysis, amicus briefs or other types of advocacy documents to national, region and international bodies;
Experience in advocacy and/or litigation at international, regional and national human rights systems;
Experience in managing projects, monitoring and evaluating of impact, and managing the work of others (for the Senior Legal Officer post, substantial project management experience is required);
Strong policy development experience.

Other requirements:

Ability to work in a multi-cultural work environment and commitment to equal opportunities and non-discrimination;
Willingness and availability for regular, and sometimes extended, overseas travel (subject to COVID-19 travel restrictions at present;
Must already have right to work full time in the country of location. ARTICLE 19 has currently offices in the UK, the Netherlands, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Tunisia, Kenya, Senegal and Bangladesh. Please note that ARTICLE 19 is not in a position to sponsor visas or work permits for this post in any of our office locations or elsewhere.

DESIRABLE

Regional expertise in at least 2 of these areas: Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, MENA region, Asia and/or Africa, and experience of working in these regions;
Experience of working with regional and international partners to deliver joint policy and advocacy projects.
Media law and policy expertise.
Knowledge of both common and civil law systems.