View Vacancy - Liaison Prosecutor Paralegal Assistant (CPS) - (02/23 PTA)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)
Crown Prosecution Services

Main purpose of job:

The country-based assistant will support and assist the Liaison Prosecutor in achieving their objectives as set by the CPS.

The Liaison Prosecutor works with UK law enforcement and prosecution agencies to ensure effective investigative and prosecution outcomes in the UK and South Africa and to develop and improve relationships with South African partners.

The Liaison Prosecutor’s work can sometimes involve providing support to UK prosecution and law enforcement authorities with casework in jurisdictions outside of South Africa. The country-based assistant may also be required to support such work.

The country-based assistant will work closely with the Liaison Prosecutor to provide administrative and organisational assistance including: providing research support (written and oral), ensuring the extensive and varied caseload is adequately managed and reports and records are kept up-to-date, and attending meetings with UK and South African partners.

The country-based assistant may also be called upon to conduct legal research, help to prepare guidance and briefing documents and assist the Liaison Prosecutor in preparing and delivering presentations. The country-based assistant may be given independent casework tasks and will be asked to help the Liaison Prosecutor develop and improve relationships with UK and South African stakeholders. The country-based assistant may be asked to attend internal meetings at the High Commission to represent the CPS on the country board and/or operations board if the Liaison Prosecutor is unavailable.

This job will give the successful candidate an opportunity to gain experience in working with the Crown Prosecution Service, UK law enforcement and the local authorities. The country-based assistant will be encouraged to develop an understanding of policy work and may have opportunities to shadow other colleagues. 

The country-based assistant should be prepared to attend training events to develop and improve their legal knowledge and administrative skills.

The country-based assistant will be based at the British High Commission in Pretoria but may also work with the Liaison Prosecutor at the South African Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (subject to agreement of host country). Travel in South Africa, the region and to the UK may occasionally be required.

There will be a degree of autonomy in the role during which the successful candidate will be expected to identify tasks which will assist the Liaison Prosecutor or the wider network.

Security Clearance Level required: SC.

Please note that only nationals of UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand who have resided in these countries within the last five years are likely to meet this requirement.

Roles and responsibilities:

  • Establishing, maintaining, and strengthening relationships with key stakeholders within South Africa and in particular within the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the Attorney General (AG), the Public Prosecution Offices (PPO) in South Africa.
  • Maintaining existing cooperative and productive working relationships with the UK law enforcement agencies and other HMG departments represented at Post.
  • Case management of UK Mutual legal assistance (MLA), asset recovery and extradition requests, including initial review and triage, if directed by the Liaison Prosecutor. 
  • Providing essential administrative support, to contribute to the delivery of project work to enhance bilateral cooperation and progress UK priorities, to include proactively maintaining the database of requests for formal international cooperation from the UK to the South Africa.
  • Providing legal support by conducting open source legal research of South Africa criminal justice laws and criminal justice processes, as directed by the Liaison Prosecutor.
  • Preparing formal written reports, maintaining the CPS casework log, transfer log and risk register and submitting these to CPS International each month at the direction of the Liaison Prosecutor.
  • Identifying case work actions and assisting with the progression of case work, sometimes independently in the absence of the Liaison Prosecutor; knowing when to escalate up where necessary 
  • Conducting ad-hoc, open-source research and analysis, presenting findings in a logical and concise manner.
  • Managing the Liaison Prosecutor’s diary appointments including organising meetings, preparing and distributing agendas, briefing papers and minutes.
  • Working closely with the CPS Operational Delivery team to plan and organise travel for inward and outward visits, and to compile and organise programmes for incoming/outgoing conferences, workshops and other training events.
  • Supporting broader Embassy/High Commission work and objectives where appropriate, to include crisis response and cover for HMG partners at post during periods of absence as required.
  • Travelling to the UK, or traveling in-country or regionally, to support the Liaison Prosecutor including to attend training events / team days.

The above list is not exhaustive and the country-based assistant will be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required.


Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

No staff management

No expenditure management but post holder will be expected to effectively manage resources and monitor expenditure and will be accountable to the budget holder for expenditure incurred.

 

  • SC clearance (or the ability to be cleared to SC)
  • Fluent in written and spoken English
  • IT skills including working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with an ability to work with a range of stakeholders and to convey messages in a professional way
  • Organisational and time-management skills with ability to demonstrate initiative, autonomy and self-motivation
  • Self-starter with enthusiasm of energy, able to work independently as well as part of a team
  • Results driven with excellent attention to detail
  • Ability to handle multiple tasks and projects at pace
  • Ability to work effectively within a small team
  • Ability to work flexibly and work extended hours, sometimes at short notice
  • Legal or law enforcement experience is desirable; particularly an understanding of the CPS and/or other parts of the English legal system
  • Ability to speak in another official SA language is desirable but not essential
  • Experience in an international work environment
Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
31 January 2023
Executive Officer (EO)
Fixed Term, Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
36.5 hours
12 months
Africa
South Africa
Pretoria
British High Commission
1
R 311,972.32 per annum
1 March 2023

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

Mandatory FCDO and CPS training on commencing post

Post holder will also have access to relevant FCDO and CPS training

Specific training and mentoring for the role will be provided according to an individual personal development plan

Working patterns: 

Flexible working may be available subject to operational need.


The British High Commission pays in full for the Key Care Plus option on Discovery Health for staff including spouses/partners and dependants.

  • Once you have successfully completed your probation the British High Commission will contribute 9% of your monthly salary to a Provident Fund.
  • Annual leave entitlement of 25 days
  • Working hours per week of 36.5

This is for a full time employment, on a fixed term basis for one-year with a view for extension.

  • Please complete the application form in full as the information provided is used during screening.
  • Please check your application carefully before you submit, as no changes can be made once submitted.
  • The British High Commission will never request any payment or fees to apply for a position.
  • Employees recruited locally by the British High Commission in Pretoria are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in South Africa.
  • All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit. 
  • The responsibility lies on the successful candidate to:
  • Obtain the relevant permit
  • Pay fees for the permit
  • Make arrangements to relocate
  • Meet the costs to relocate 
  • The British High Commission do not sponsor visas/work permits except where it may be local practice to do so. 
  • Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.
  • Information about the Civil Service Success Profiles can be found on this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles. Please note:  AA=A1, AO=A2, EO=B3, HEO=C4, SEO=C5
  • Reference checking and security clearances will be conducted on successful candidates.
Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.