Service Area
Law Officers to the Crown
**Grade: **SO2 to SO4 - £57,066 - £77,034 per annum
Full Time
The States of Guernsey are seeking to appoint a Lawyer (Civil Litigation & Social Care) to join the team at The Law Officers of the Crown.
The Law Officers’ Chambers are responsible for providing legal advice and assistance, including representation, to the governments of Guernsey, Alderney and Sark and other public sector clients as well as to the Crown.
The Civil Litigation Team handles a wide and interesting variety of litigation and litigation-prevention work often arising from the statutory and customary responsibilities and duties of different branches of government.
The day to day civil litigation case load of the team ranges from simple debt collection to civil forfeiture, asset recovery and mutual legal assistance; from public law litigation including judicial review and dispute resolution work through to the various specific statutory appeals from administrative decisions (for example population management matters); cases involving Human Rights aspects; and data protection issues, including some subject access requests. The social care work includes the full range of court applications under the Children (Guernsey and Alderney) Law, 2008 as well as adoption cases and also adult social care and capacity issues.
The Team requires an excellent in house “all-rounder” civil litigation and social care lawyer with relevant experience to assist in the provision of legal advice on the whole range of civil litigation and social care issues that impact on government.
The post holder will not be expected to undertake the advocacy in their cases, but will, on occasion, need to attend court to assist and there may be opportunities for representing clients in the Bailiwick’s tribunals and in some adoption matters.
Whilst this post is intended to be principally engaged on civil litigation and children and social care cases, and data protection issues, there will be occasions, where urgent or necessary, when the post holder will be expected to assist with the provision of other duties falling to the team and the Law Officers’ Chambers generally, including non-contentious civil and public law advisory work on other issues facing government and the public service.
The post holder will report to the Director of Civil Litigation and will be ultimately professionally responsible to HM Procureur. They will collaborate with other legal and support staff in Chambers on a daily basis.
The post holder will be required to develop and maintain effective working relationships with all clients, particularly civil servants within the States of Guernsey and States of Alderney, including social work teams and managers within the relevant service areas of the the Committee for Health and Social Care, and the States’ data protection officers. They will also collaborate with relevant stakeholders, including the Courts and Tribunals of each jurisdiction of the Bailiwick, the Office of the Children’s Convenor, the Family Proceedings Advisory Service and the Bar, and the staff of committees and other public service clients when providing civil and public law advice on matters of concern to government.
Please click on the link below to view a full job description for this role.
Please click on the links below to find out more about living and working in Guernsey.
We offer a competitive salary and generous pension scheme.
In order to work in Guernsey, you will be eligible for a Medium Term Employment Permit. This will allow you and your family the opportunity to become residents in Guernsey for five years. *
We offer an attractive relocation package** which includes a lump sum of up to £5,000, rent allowance payable over 2 years and a house purchase grant.
*t&c’s apply
** Please see Relocation Directive 2018 for full terms and conditions
**Contact: **Nick Whalley - Head of Operations and Transformation on tel.
- Satisfactory, Basic Police Check, which can be obtained, at the candidates own expense, from the Guernsey Vetting Bureau, New Jetty, White Rock, St Peter Port, after an offer of appointment has been made. Convictions likely to be considered relevant to this post include crimes involving, but not limited to, theft violence, dishonesty, fraud, vulnerable individuals and children
- Confirmation of required qualifications / registrations
- Possession of a valid Employment Permit
Should the successful applicant not meet the requirements sufficiently he/she may be appointed at a lower grade than stated. The successful applicant would then have the opportunity to progress to the grade advertised once the necessary skills and knowledge have been developed and they have demonstrated the ability to undertake the duties at the higher level.
Please note that the States of Guernsey is undergoing a significant period of change and transformation. The officer must acknowledge and accept that the nature and type of duties within the role are likely to evolve and change over time in the course of that transformation. In such circumstances and accordance with the relevant terms and conditions of employment the employer may require the transfer, and/or redeployment, of an officer to other suitable roles within the States.
All employees are expected to uphold the purpose, vision and values of Service Guernsey: one organisation, one purpose, one focus and, in particular, to exhibit behaviours that reflect the core values of teamwork, accountability, customer service and empowerment.