Lead - Legal Interventions

Team and legal case work management:

• Oversee the day-to-day execution of the legal team s work in courts; develop, implement and monitor the work plans of the team and its members, and establish regular reporting procedures; undertake periodic review of work, including the progress made in each case and the challenges faced by the legal team
• This may also include providing regular briefing to the Senior Advocates who are handling HAQ s cases

Strategy planning and litigation:

• Devise overall strategies for the rightful conviction, swift justice and child-sensitive process and support the legal team in this regard on a case to case basis; directly represent children and attend court hearings when required; decide and act on matters of appeal, bail cancellation and other strategic litigation that may be required, including Public Interest Litigation

Coordination Networking:

• Work in coordination with other HAQ team members in the restorative care programme and service providers that HAQ engages with for providing legal and/or psychosocial support and restorative care to children, including social workers and counsellors
• Proactively engage and advocate with concerned national and state authorities, especially police and prosecution, medical practitioners, CWC, JJBs, Courts, Ministry of Women and Child Development, DCPCR and such other authorities and agencies, as may be important for legal case work management, training, research, law and policy reform

Legal Research:

• Lead, conduct and publish legal research on current socio-legal issues including upcoming Bills in the Parliament, any ongoing legal discourse on child rights etc
• In addition to the legal research, create and maintain a legal repository of landmark judgments on child rights, track judgments/orders from various High Courts and the Supreme Court on various issues of child rights as and when pronounced/reported

Capacity building:

• Support and/or coach and mentor legal team members and, if need be, accompany them in the field to meet with children and their families
• Develop training modules and conduct capacity building programmes on child rights laws and policies for different stakeholders
• Training, coach and mentor legal fellows for developing broader perspectives on child rights and child protection and effective handling cases of child rights violations abuse; and supervise interns
• Contribute towards development of good practices in child rights litigation
• Collaborations and Partnerships: Establish connections with various Networks/Organisations who work on various issues of child rights
• This includes prominent Universities and Institutions for receiving quality students for HAQ s Legal Internship Programme

• Minimum Bachelors of Law. Masters of Law preferred.

• Strong grounding in legal and human rights frameworks

• Minimum 4-6 years professional experience including three years experience in litigation, research, capacity building and advocacy in law.

• Ability to work in and lead a team, facilitating group processes and managing team dynamics

• Minimum 2-3 years experience in developing and managing human resource

• Excellent written and spoken English and Hindi and comprehension skills

• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Legal database like SCC Online or Manupatra or similar software and database systems

• Prior experience of working on children s rights issues will be an added advantage.

• Integrity, critical thinking, compassion, sensitivity, inclusivity and the ability to build trust, especially with children

• Demonstrated commitment to securing and promoting human rights of the most vulnerable

• Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills

• Ability to analyse and solve complex problems, and to work in challenging, and sometimes hostile, environments; commitment to meeting deadlines and achieving results under pressure

• Persistent, assertive and cognizant of the child s best interest, and available for responding to cases of children, if need be at odd hours.

• Willingness to learn, adapt and work hard.