Legal Assistant

Wildlife Criminal Justice Program – Legal Assistant

Location: Mumbwa (1) and Sesheke (1) but with travel throughout respective areas
Application Deadline: 31st October 2018
Language Required: English
Duration of Contract: 2 years (thereafter to be reviewed annually)
Reporting: WCP Justice Programs Manager
Working hours: Monday – Friday- excluding public holidays

BACKGROUND

Wildlife Crime Prevention (WCP) is a Zambian based not for profit organisation that works nationally across Zambia, providing support to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW)’s Investigation and Intelligence Units. The main goal of WCP is to coordinate closely with key DNPW personnel and NGOs working within National Parks in Zambia to secure areas of elephant strongholds and key transit routes of illegal wildlife trade.

PURPOSE

We are looking for new legal assistants to join the WCP’s Wildlife Criminal Justice (WCJ) team in partnership with Panthera. The WCJ team has been following and supporting the prosecutions of wildlife crime prosecutions in Zambia for over 2 years andwish toexpandour team to include legal assistants based in Mumbwa, Central Province and Sesheke, Western Province. This expansion is implemented in partnership Panthera Zambia and the US Government.

These exciting new roles will involve working with both DNPW and the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) as well as others stake holders to better understand the current application of wildlife legislation in Zambia and improve justice in the wildlife sector in Zambia.

SCOPE OF WORK

The position includes, but not limited to, the following responsibilities:

1) Courtroom Assistance

• The legal assistant will be responsible for accessing and collating information and reports from their respective operational areas on wildlife-crime cases.
• The legal assistant will build relationships within DNPW, NPA and the Judiciary.
• The legal assistant will be responsible for analysing data and reporting on trends in wildlife crime court cases in order to inform suggested recommendations.
• The legal assistant will be responsible for monitoring high profile wildlife crime cases being conducted throughout the region, attending court, liaising with DNPW officers and NPA.

2) Training and Workshops

• The legal assistant will be responsible for organizing and leading training and workshops for partners and relevant personnel where necessary.

3) Reporting

• The legal assistant will be responsible for regular activity reporting to the WCJ Justice Program Manager as well as Panthera.

4) Financial Management

•  The legal assistant will be responsible for their own financial management and will be required to submit a monthly expenses account.

REQUIRED SKILLS/ EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor of Laws degree from a well-recognised Zambian Institution;
• Some experience in litigation or prosecutions preferred;
• Excellent computer skills, specifically in Microsoft office suite, expert proficiency or certification in Microsoft Excel preferred;
• Relevant experience in data collection and wildlife conservation issues preferred;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, analytical research and descriptive reporting experience;
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to identify trends and patterns of information;
  Fluency in English required, additional language skills preferred;
• Exceptional organizational skills, ability to facilitate communication between different locations and ability work independently to meet deadlines.

TERMS AND BENEFITS

A competitive salary will be offered, Project-related expenses incurred will be reimbursed e.g. communications and transport.

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