Legal Assistant – Belarus and Ukraine (Russian speaking) – Location: London or The Hague (hybrid working). We will also consider a remote consultancy – Closing Date: Rolling Recruitment

REDRESS is recruiting a Legal Assistant under a short-term contract to support our universal jurisdiction work relating to Ukraine and the International Accountability Platform for Belarus. We are seeking applications from excellent graduates in the early stages of their careers with a strong commitment to international human rights law to contribute to this work.

REDRESS has a diverse team from different backgrounds and with different experiences. Under our Equality Policy, we welcome applications from people of colour, LGBTQI+ people, and disabled people, who are currently under-represented. We will use positive action under the Equality Act 2010 to appoint from these groups if two candidates are equally qualified. We are also trying to recruit globally where UK immigration law permits it.

Who we are

REDRESS is an international human rights organisation based in London and The Hague that pursues legal claims on behalf of survivors of torture in the UK and around the world to obtain justice and reparation for violations against their human rights. We empower survivors to access justice through human rights cases against governments, civil cases against individuals, and cases where we advocate for law enforcement bodies to prosecute perpetrators under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Our approach is strategic, so that as well as representing an individual we target the policy reasons that enabled the torture to take place, by building a campaign that uses advocacy, community engagement, and communications to influence change.

Our 2025 Strategy identifies torture related to dissent and discriminatory torture as our two thematic priorities. We also support the anti-torture movement through our solidarity programme.

REDRESS has undertaken a process of growth and modernization over the last few years. You can find information about the organization in the latest Trustees Annual Report. We currently have good reserves of nearly six months running costs, and a diverse funding base. We have grown to about 30 staff, and plan to remain at a similar size while we consolidate. We have upgraded our procedures and policies, and we are developing new commitments to improve staff development, further enhance our diversity, build our survivor-centred approach, and ensure people with lived experience are part of REDRESS.

The Programme

Through the Justice programme we to promote access to justice for survivors of torture as an essential part of their recovery. We bring human rights cases against governments, civil cases against individuals, and criminal cases where we advocate for law enforcement bodies to prosecute perpetrators under the principle of universal jurisdiction. REDRESS has worked for many years promoting UJ in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe, and acts as an observer to the EU Genocide Network.

Through our Dissent programme we challenge torture used to suppress activism and protest. REDRESS acts as the international co-lead together with the Danish NGO Dignity and two national partners for the International Accountability Platform for Belarus, through which civil society will collect, consolidate, verify, and preserve information, documentation, and evidence of serious violations of international law committed in Belarus in the run-up to the presidential elections in Belarus in 2020 and its aftermath. The Platform builds on the ongoing efforts of Belarusian human rights organisations to document human rights violations in Belarus.

Position Profile

Preferably based in London or The Hague, but with the possibility of working remotely under a consultancy, the Legal Assistant will be responsible for supporting our UJ work relating to Ukraine and Belarus through legal research, analysis of evidence, attending meetings, organizing events, and engaging with partners.

Key Responsibilities

The Legal Assistant will contribute to the work of REDRESS and the Platform by delivering and supporting the following activities:

  • Conduct legal research and open source research, including on universal jurisdiction.
  • Implement the standard operating procedures, e.g., regarding documentation, investigation and prosecution of serious human rights violations and international crimes.
  • Review evidence of alleged human rights violations and international crimes with regard to subsequent investigation, litigation and/or prosecution.
  • Support the analysis of cases reported to and stored in the Platform, including though cross-referencing.
  • Engaging with partner NGOs to support their work, including through workshops and training.

General Responsibilities

The Legal Assistant will contribute to the work of REDRESS as follows:

  • Strategic Litigation. Support strategic litigation through factual and legal research and analysis, legal drafting, and by attending meetings with clients, witnesses, and partner lawyers and activists.
  • Case management. Support the management of our casework by keeping electronic files and correspondence.
  • Legal Policy Advocacy. Research and develop policy papers, participate in policy and project meetings with partners and stakeholders.
  • Media and Communications. Support our communications work by helping to draft website entries, blog posts, and social media campaigns.
  • Projects. Support specific project activities, such as developing training materials, producing litigation workshops, and organizing events.
  • Support our fundraising efforts through research, participate in fundraising meetings.
  • Administration. Support administrative tasks, financial requests, project management, events, and office tasks.

The position is also expected to carry out such further duties as may reasonably be required from time to time by REDRESS.

Person Specification

This is an entry level position, and so we will consider candidates at the beginning of their career, with some relevant experience. The ideal candidate will have the following skills.

Essential Competencies

The successful candidate will need to have the following competencies:

  • A degree in law, international affairs, or another subject relevant to the role.
  • Demonstrated commitment to and experience in human rights.
  • Demonstrated competence in legal writing and editing.
  • Strong legal and factual research skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to manage projects, work with teams, and organise tasks.
  • Relevant experience through internships, volunteer roles, work experience, educational work placements, or other practical experience.
  • Fluency in written and oral English, with at least a working ability in Russian.

Desirable Competencies

A strong candidate will also have other desirable competencies:

  • A relevant postgraduate level degree.
  • Licensed to practice law through bar membership or the equivalent.
  • Knowledge of international criminal law or the law of torture.
  • Knowledge of the functioning of international human rights treaty bodies UN and regional human rights mechanisms, or the ICC.
  • Experience documenting cases of human rights violations or working with survivors.
  • Fluency in Russian.

Personal Attributes

To work for Redress, the candidate should have the following personal attributes:

  • Happy to work collaboratively as part of a small and energetic team with a wide range of personalities.
  • Highly efficient and organised, with an ability to multi-task, show initiative, solve problems, and take a hands-on role when necessary.
  • Able to think and work strategically, creatively, and under pressure.
  • Able to understand and support the aims, objectives and values of REDRESS and reflect them in all aspects of work.
  • Able to work with victims of human rights abuse with a range of specific needs.

Terms

Reporting. The position is part of the Justice team, and will report to a Legal Advisor.

Hours. This is a full-time position at 35 hours a week. Evening and weekend work may be required from time to time.

Location. The position is based at the REDRESS office in London or the Hague. We may consider employing someone elsewhere on a consultancy basis.

Flexible Working. REDRESS is an “in-person” organisation and we value team work, but we have a flexible working policy which allows for working from home. Staff are asked to be in the office at least two days a week.

Salary. REDRESS has fixed salary scales, with annual cost of living increases, and the possibility of step increases with strong performance. This is an entry-level ‘assistant’ position, and the salary is either A1 (£27,182) for those who meet the experience requirement, or potentially A2 (£29,220) for those who have more experience.

Duration. The contract is for a fixed-term of 12 months, but may be extended if additional funding becomes available.

Start date. The position would start as soon as possible.

Probation. There is a six-month probationary period.

Pension. REDRESS offers a pension contribution of 10% of salary.

Holiday.  There are 25 days of holiday per year, in addition to UK public holidays. The office is also closed between Christmas and New Year.

Status. The candidate must have the right to live and work in the UK or in the Netherlands. Unfortunately we cannot sponsor a UK immigration process for this role.

Interview process. We are recruiting on a rolling basis until the position is filled. We will conduct interviews as needed to fill the position.

How to Apply

Please upload to our recruitment portal a single PDF file with:

  • A cover letter of no more than one page explaining (a) why you would like to work for REDRESS, (b) how you fulfil the personal specification for the role, (c) how you will contribute to the diversity of REDRESS, and (d) preferred location.
  • Your CV or resume.

Please also complete the anonymous Diversity Monitoring Form. We use the information from the form to tell us about the diversity of the applicant pool for each of the positions that we advertise. We keep the conclusions of the analysis for our records, and the underlying data is destroyed three months after the recruitment closes.

Deadline: Rolling Recruitment. We will keep the position open until it is filled.