COUNCIL OF EUROPE: English Language Checker

Do you have an eye for detecting spelling and stylistic errors when reading documents in English? Do you know how to improve the form of a text without altering its content? Can you handle complex legal texts and ensure that they are clear and comprehensible? Would you like to contribute to the activities of an International Organisation working for human rights, democracy and the rule of law? If so, our job advertisement may be the right opportunity for you.

Who we are 

With over 2200 staff members representing all its 46 member States, the Council of Europe is a multicultural Organisation. We all strive towards protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law and our three core values – professionalism, integrity and respect – guide the way we work.

The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in the member States. See the Court’s website for information about its activities.

Your role 

As an English Language Checker, your role will focus on: 

• carrying out a language check of specified categories of documents, in particular draft judgments and decisions, to ensure they are clear, readily comprehensible and grammatically correct, consulting the author where necessary;
• identifying any terminological problems and searching for and analysing the information needed to resolve them;
• for each document checked, giving the lawyers concerned the feedback they need to develop their drafting ability in English;
• providing linguistic assistance to lawyers during the drafting process by giving them opinions and advice on an ad hoc basis;
• taking part, on a voluntary basis, in training Registry lawyers by devising and running language workshops tailored to their specific needs in drafting the Court’s judgments;
• contributing to the linguistic databases managed by the translators;
• taking part in divisional terminology meetings; explaining any country-specific difficulties and, where appropriate, justifying the solutions proposed.

What we are looking for 

You must: 

• hold a higher-education qualification (at least 2 years of studies) in a relevant field, for example in languages or law;
• have a minimum of two years of relevant professional experience in the areas of language checking, translation or law;
• have English mother tongue (or command of English of mother-tongue standard), good knowledge of French;
• be a citizen of one of the member States of the Council of Europe and fulfil the conditions for appointment to the civil service of that state;
• have discharged any obligation concerning national service (military, civil or comparable);
• not be the parent, child, stepchild or grandchild of a serving staff member of the Council of Europe;
• be under the age of 65 years.

Demonstrate to us that you have the following competencies: 

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • basic legal knowledge, particularly of the Convention system and the Court’s case-law, and ability to develop knowledge in this field;
  • advanced linguistic knowledge and terminology, spelling, syntax, style.
• Planning and work organisation
• Drafting skills
• Analysis and problem solving
• Relationship building
• Teamwork and co-operation
• Concern for quality
• Service orientation
• Results orientation

These would be an asset: 

• Learning and development
• Communication
• Adaptability
• Resilience 

What we offer 

In Strasbourg, you will receive a basic monthly gross salary of €4 107 which is exempt from national income tax.

The deadline for applications is 02 April 2024 (midnight Central European Time).