Centre for Military Justice (Remote) – Race/Religious Discrimination Lawyer/Caseworker
Hours: Two days a week
Salary: £40,000 pro rata (£16,000)
Leave: 28 days a year, pro rata
Contract term: Two year fixed term (funded by the National Lottery Community Fund)
The deadline for applications is 4pm Friday 13 September 2024.
Centre for Military Justice (CJM) are looking for a confident, independent lawyer or experienced caseworker to support our information & advice service, support clients that wish to make formal service complaints, litigate employment law, human rights and/or public law cases, undertake policy and outreach with the armed forces sector and meaningfully contribute to the development of our tiny but thriving charity. The focus of the work will be on tackling racism in the armed forces although there may be some casework touching on other areas such as sex discrimination and armed forces legal reform.
We invite applications from anyone who meets the job description. It is an opportunity for a lawyer that can work both pro-actively and collaboratively. The role is fully remote at present but there is close working with the Director (also a lawyer) and a second solicitor.
CMJ is a lawyer-led charity, which was founded by Mr Des James, the father of Pte Cheryl James, one of the young soldiers that died at Deepcut Barracks, Brig (Ret’d) John Donnelly, the former Director of Army Personnel Services, Sian Nicholson, a senior fundraiser, and Emma Norton, a lawyer, in 2019. We are a (sometimes extremely) critical friend to the armed forces. In the last four years we have shown the CMJ to be a vital progressive, sometimes lonely voice within the military sector addressing such important issues as the threat to repeal the Human Rights Act, the legacy proposals for Northern Ireland and the discriminatory treatment of women and minoritised service personnel. Some examples of our legal cases can be seen here.
In the context of our strategic objectives, we act directly for individuals, and we work closely and collaboratively with other public interest and armed forces organisations. We provide policy briefings on different legal aspects of armed forces life. We have given evidence in Parliament and advised MPs on various issues such as the Overseas Operations Bill, the Armed Forces Bill 2021 and the Defence Inquiry on Women in the Armed Forces.
CMJ funding comes from a range of independent sources, including donations from the legal sector and charitable grants.
Job Description – lawyer/caseworker
The lawyer/caseworker will be responsible for developing and maintaining conduct of a caseload which is likely to be a mixture of employment law cases, service complaints and, possibly, judicial review work. The focus of the work will be to support racially minoritised Service Personnel and veterans in various ways. In addition, the caseworker will provide general legal advice and information through our online enquiry and telephone service on an ad hoc basis. They may also produce briefings on wider issues of concern to the armed forces that fall within our area of expertise.
The post holder will work with the Director, external consultants and stakeholders (including former clients of the CMJ) to design and offer a programme of outreach work to the armed forces community on tackling racism in the armed forces.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
Casework
- Develop and maintain a manageable caseload of employment law and (subject to experience) other cases on behalf of individuals.
- Where funding might be available (such as through insurance or third party), to secure that funding. (Please note that the CMJ does not have a legal aid contract though and separate arrangements are in place for the rare occasions where a matter may be legally aid-able, which involve referring out).
- Provide general advice and assistance, information and sign posting through our information service.
- Assist in the preparation of briefings and materials on matters arising from our case work that will be made available to the public via our website.
- Prepare funding applications, as necessary.
- Ensure that casework and other case administration is undertaken in a timely and appropriate way.
- Compliance with all professional requirements.
Outreach
- To assist in (and in due course lead) the design and development of a programme of outreach work with the armed forces community on how to address the particular challenges faced by black and minoritised Service Personnel. To include twice yearly training at the Defence Academy.
General
- Assist others with gathering data for monitoring and evaluation, both internal for the CMJ’s Trustee Board and external for funders and stakeholders.
- Undertake general administration and word-processing in connection with own work, using our cloud-based case-work system Law Fusion (operated by Access Legal). The role is entirely self-servicing and there is no administrative support at present. Efficient accurate electronic filing is vital. A computer will be provided.
CMJ is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from individuals regardless of age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy/maternity, race, religion and belief, sex or sexual orientation.
To apply, please send a cover letter setting out how you meet the person specification, and what you can bring to the charity, along with a CV, to information@centreformilitaryjustice.org.uk.
We hope to hold interviews early October 2024, tbc.
To download the full application pack, please follow this link: https://centreformilitaryjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/CMJ-race-discrimination-caseworker-pack.pdf