Legal Assistant at UN-Habitat

• The Legal Unit, situated in the Office of the Executive Director (OED), is responsible for, but not limited to:
• The provision of timely and sound legal advice to UN-Habitat through its officials including the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Director, Senior Managers, and other relevant UN-Habitat officials and partners;
• Preparation of Guidelines on handling and preventing issues such as corruption, misconduct, fraud, inefficient use of resources, unnecessary legal claims and liabilities which continue to pose serious threats and challenge to the operations of UN-Habitat and its relations with its partners;
• The efficient and timely review and clearance of all legal agreements and legal instruments prior to their signature to reduce exposure of UN-Habitat to risks, legal claims and liabilities;  
• Provision of appropriate legal representation before the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) and dispute settlement bodies; and (e) Resolving disputes with partners and other stakeholders and ensuring that disputes are efficiently handled and minimized. II.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

• Under the direct supervision of the Officer-in-Charge of the Legal Office, the Individual Contractor shall undertake specific responsibilities aimed at achieving the required objective and results and support the realization of UN-Habitat's mandate. The Individual Contractor will carry out the following duties:
• Review, verify and process legal instruments ensuring conformity to relevant guidelines and requirements, extract key data and update database, monitor requisite follow-up actions, approvals, etc.  
• Assist in the preparation and filing of cases with the United Nations Administration of Justice (UNDT and UNAT) and any other body such as the Management and Evaluation Unit (MEU).
• Handle, or refer to the Legal Officer as appropriate, a variety of verbal and written inquiries from internal and external parties, including providing information on processes and procedures related to specific legal activities, instruments, etc.
• Conduct basic research on assigned issues, using existing legal files and alternative sources (e.g., computer-assisted searches using the internet, intranet or other databases); verify facts, identify citations, precedents, issues to be addressed, etc., and draft statements of findings, respondent replies to appeals, etc. for review by the Legal Officer.
• Edit and conduct final checks for accuracy of a variety of specialized legal documentation, instruments, and related correspondence, for final clearance and approval.
• Participate and assist in drafting legal opinions and correspondence.
•  Assist in the preparation of legal documents for electronic storage, access and circulation/publication, including document scanning and conversion, review of content and extraction of key data and text excerpts for categorization and indexing purposes, etc.
• Schedule appointments/meetings, monitor deadlines, etc.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications/special skills

• Bachelor’s degree in law from a recognized institution is a requirement. A master’s degree in law or a related field would be an added advantage. Minimum experience of one (1) year is a requirement, part of which must be related to International and Administrative Law and Legal Research in an international organisation.