Legal Officer, P3

Legal Officer, P3

WHO - World Health Organization

Geneva, Switzerland

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

To provide independent, authoritative and practical legal advice and legal services to enable the Organization to implement its mission of global public health consistently with its mandate and to protect the Organization's resources, reputation, integrity and its responsibility to its Member States. To provide legal input, during the planning and implementation of WHO's activities, so as to facilitate effective cooperation among those taking part - Member States, international bodies, international officials, collaborating institutions, individuals and commercial entities; to ensure that the activities are carried out on a firm legal basis; and to defend the Organization from legal action.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Under the supervision of a Senior Legal Officer, ICH and the Principal Legal Officer, as appropriate, the incumbent will:

• provide advice on procedural and substantive legal questions arising in the run up to, and in the course of, the operation of the World Health Assembly and its sub-committees, including, the INB and the WGIHR, the Executive Board and its committees, including, the Programme Budget and Administration Committee and the Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response, the Regional Committees, WHO Expert Committees and other expert advisory mechanisms, the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Meeting of the Parties of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, the WHO Member State Mechanism on Substandard and Falsified medical products, WHO Expert Committees and advisory groups, the Emergency Committees of the International Health Regulations (2005), as well as and the Commission of the FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, its Executive Committee and subsidiary bodies;
• provide advice on procedural and substantive legal questions arising in the course of the operation of intergovernmental meetings that take place in between the regular sessions of the WHO governing bodies;
• protect the Organization`s interests in supporting the negotiation, adoption and management of legal instruments between WHO and other entities such as Member States or other intergovernmental organizations, including insofar as the status of the Organization / its privileges and immunities under international law is/are concerned, as well as nomenclature and representation of international borders related matters;
• ensure that decision-making by technical units, both in terms of procedure and in terms of substance, is well-informed by legal and policy considerations in compliance with WHO rules, regulations, and policies, including in situations, where there may be limited or no precedents, where matters of status under international law may arise, and where new policy may need to be developed, and including in the areas of international administrative and commercial matters as needed;
• assume other functions as required by the exigencies of the work of the Office, including the presentation of the work of the Office to WHO staff and visitors to the Organization, the external representation of the Organization in appropriate for a, including on missions, the provision of staffing advice and the day-to-day supervision of legal interns assigned to the Office;
• other functions of a legal nature, as may be required by the exigencies of the work of the Office.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Essential:
  • A university degree in law.
• Desirable:
  • A masters degree or a PhD in international law or international relations is an asset;
  • A professional legal qualification, such as having passed a national bar exam is desirable as well as study of international organizations law or related work with international organizations.

Experience

• Essential:
  • A minimum of five years of legal experience;
  • Demonstrable knowledge of international law;
  • Proven experience in communicating legal considerations to non-lawyers in a time-sensitive, policy-sensitive and well-drafted manner;
  • Demonstrable facility with high level online research and information tools.
• Desirable:
  • Knowledge of and/or experience advising with respect to international organization practice and law.

Skills

• Solid understanding of public international law;
• Under the supervision of the first or second level supervisor, ability to provide in-house legal advice, and advice to external stakeholders, as appropriate, on a wide range of legal matters relevant to the work of the Organization.

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork;
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences;
• Communication;
• Moving forward in a changing environment;
• Producing results.

Use of Language Skills

• Essential:
  • Expert knowledge of English.
• Desirable:
  • Intermediate knowledge of French;
  • Intermediate knowledge of UN language.

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