Paralegal Assistant - Thames & Chiltern United Kingdom
Job description
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About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
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Location
About the job
Job summary
Are you interested in advancing your career in Law? Begin your journey as a Paralegal Assistant with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Paralegal Assistants play an integral role in delivering justice. You will be responsible for providing administrative support within the paralegal team as well as providing support to prosecutors as part of the overall prosecution team. You will be required to familiarise yourself with relevant cases and attend Court to undertake administrative, liaison, advocate support and representational duties as well as offering support to victims and witnesses. You will have the ability to deliver your duties in an efficient and timely manner, working both independently and in partnership with prosecutors, fellow paralegal staff and others within the local criminal justice system.
As a Paralegal Assistant you are at the heart of what we do. Your day to day work will be varied as you face new experiences and are positively challenged; no two days will be the same. You will be able to gain vital skills, including organisation skills, communication skills and legal knowledge. The skills and knowledge which you will develop as a Paralegal Assistant will allow you to go on to develop further professionally, with access to a range of roles across the CPS.
We are looking for individuals who are committed to public service and make a difference in people’s lives and deliver justice. We are committed to delivering the highest standards in this complex and challenging field.
Paralegal Assistants are expected to spend most of their time in court where they will support counsel and CPS members of staff. There are occasions whether there may be time allocated to working in the office or from home, but the majority of time will be spent in court.
Please note that for some specific CPS areas, you will need to travel between courts four to five times a week.
Court locations:
- Oxford
- Reading
- Aylesbury
- Amersham
- St Albans
- Luton
- Huntingdon
- Bedford
If a post isn't immediately available within a candidate's chosen area, candidates will join a reserve list for that area.
- Reading
- St Albans
For further information about the role including a day in the life of a Paralegal Assistant and also information on how to apply, please see the candidate pack and job Description at the bottom of this page.
Please note that successful candidates will begin on the induction rate £21,890 and this will then rise to the spot rate of £25,600 after six months of employment (25,600+ £1, 050 RRA for St. Albans)
Job description
You will provide support to victims and witnesses directly at court, along with other key parties such as court staff, defence firms, police, prosecution counsel
You will be working in a busy environment at court, dealing with a variety of cases from burglaries, making and supplying of drugs etc to rape and murder.
You will be part of a strong and thriving team of paralegals and Court Manager managing the cases at court each day
You will communicate regularly with Paralegal Officers as well as prosecution lawyers about the cases
Person specification
Prepare briefs in committals for sentence and appeals against sentence.
Responding to court endorsements and ongoing casework actions, where appropriate To provide administrative assistance to the team including filing, retrieval of papers, post linking, production of court lists.
The postholder to be deployed at Court as required by the Paralegal Business Manager on a case by case basis, taking into consideration issues such as case complexity and sensitivity. The postholder to undertake administrative, liaison and advocate support duties, under the mentorship and supervision of Paralegal Officers, Managers, Prosecutors and Crown Advocates.
The postholder will be expected to build and maintain effective working relationships internally with Paralegal Officers, Prosecutors, Senior Managers and HQ staff. Deal with telephone enquiries and correspondence acknowledging and redirecting as appropriate. Produce basic letters, following a standard format.
Update diary for Court dates
For the full list of responsibilities please see the attached Job Description
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Managing a Quality Service
- Changing and Improving
Benefits
CPS is passionate about ensuring that we are a top performing organisation and a great place to work. We are committed to be an equal opportunities employer and creating a culture where everyone can bring their whole self to work and individuality is truly appreciated.
We want to ensure all our employees can thrive at work and home and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment, which means that where you work (i.e. a court, an office, or a remote setting such as your home) will be based on the kind of work you are undertaking. In the role as a Paralegal Assistant, you will be expected to spend the majority of your time based in court.
This culture of inclusion is underpinned by our staff networks covering Disability, Faith and Belief, LGBTQI+, Race, Social Mobility alongside our Mental Health First Aiders Programme and Wellbeing Sessions.
CPS commits to offer its employees the following experience
- Impactful, purposeful work – making a difference to your local communities
- The ability to learn and grow, with access to the right opportunities and resources
- To care about your wellbeing
- To feel valued, trusted and included
We also offer the following range of benefits:
- Civil Service Pension
- Access to employee savings
- Cycle2Work scheme
- 25 days leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years’ service.
- 1 extra privilege day.
- Competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
- Flexible working and a family friendly approach to work.
- Childcare vouchers unless already registered with the Government Tax Free Childcare Scheme
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Customer facing roles in the CPS require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement this will be tested as part of the selection process.
The recruitment process will consist of an online application and an interview which will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams between the following dates: Tuesday 4th July and Friday 7th July 2023
A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with further guidance should you reach this stage in the process. If you have any queries about this please contact the CPS Recruitment Team at [email protected]
You should keep these dates free or notify us if you are not available. We will make every effort to accommodate you in your preference for dates; however we cannot guarantee that they will be met.
We will also be holding meet and engagement sessions on the following dates, these sessions give candidates the chance to ask the resourcing team queries on the selection process/ role advertised:
9th June 12pm: https://meetandengage.com/alia8a2dd
16th June 4pm: https://meetandengage.com/alia8ahiu
To join these sessions, please use the links that are included on page 14 of the candidate pack to sign up.
The successful applicant will be required to secure, at minimum, DBS clearance. To speed up this process; you should bring 3 forms of ID with you on the day of interview. Data gathered from unsuccessful candidates will be destroyed in accordance with our Data Retention Policy.
If successful in obtaining an interview you will be asked to complete the Character Enquiry Form and Nationality and Immigration Questionnaire.
(If you are an internal member of staff, you will not be required to undergo this DBS check as you will already hold this clearance)
Personal Statement (using the text box provided online)
You will also be asked to complete a behaviour based personal statement of no more than 1250 words between three behaviours, setting out how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience, match the requirements as detailed in the candidate pack. You will also need to address the core behaviours for this role, detailed in the behaviours section of the candidate pack, which are;
1. Motivation - Why would you like to join the Crown Prosecution Service as a Paralegal Assistant?
2. Communicating and Influencing - Can you describe a time when you have communicated an important message to someone face to face?
3. Managing a Quality Service - Can you explain when you have delivered a good quality service to an individual or a group of people?
Information about the behaviour descriptors can be found here - https://bit.ly/CSBehaviourGuide
The panel reserve the right to only assess the lead behaviour or raise the standard / pass mark as required, including for the Online Tests.
You will need to submit your full application form by 23:55pm on the 16th June 2023
Please refer to the Candidate Pack for further information as to the process and what is being tested at each stage.
Merit List and Deployment of Offers
Candidates are required to provide two office location preferences from the list provided. Please note that you will only be offered the locations noted down on your application.
Please note this campaign will be using a locational merit list system of appointment. This means the highest rated candidate will be appointed from the region in which the vacancy has arisen. This means that even if you have scored higher than the candidate being selected, you will not be selected as you are not within the region with the vacancy.
The localised merit list you are included in will be based on your first choice location preference from your application form.
After these appointments have been filled under the locational merit list process, the remaining candidates who have successfully passed their assessments will remain on a merit list for 12 months.
This would be in the instance where all the posts are filled for your first choice preference and you therefore are placed on the waiting list. In this instance, there may be opportunities remaining for your further location preferences or other locations around the organisation. In this instance you may be approached for one of these further locations which may sit outside of your initial preference.
If a candidate is offered a position that they are unable to accept they can remain on the reserve list and may be offered a position for their location preference should one become available, however the reserve list will expire 12 months after the interviews take place and positions for candidates first preference cannot be guaranteed.
Timeline
These dates are subject to change; however it may not be possible to accommodate alternative requests for interviews. Please refer to candidate pack for the scheduled timeline.
Please note, if you are successful following the shortlist, you will be invited to book an interview slot online with a minimum five working days’ notice. If you have an issue with the interview date selected please let us know as soon as possible and we will look into the possibility of rearranging, however this cannot be guaranteed.
Other
Candidates can apply to this vacancy in Welsh, and will not be treated less favourably if you do so. When completing your application form, you will be asked whether you wish for your interview to be conducted in Welsh.
From April 2018, the CPS will provide a Fair Processing Notice (FPN) to all new applicants after they have been successful at interview. These candidates will be informed that, as one aspect of pre-employment screening, their personal details – name, National Insurance Number and date of birth - will be checked against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) and that anyone included on the IFD will be refused employment unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.
On behalf of the vacancy holder the Strategic Resourcing team in the CPS will inform applicants when they are refused employment because of their inclusion in the IFD.
Current Civil Servants
Please note, if you are a current civil servant and you are currently undergoing any of the following formal actions your application will not be progressed any further;
Formal discipline action, any formal action regarding attendance, poor performance or any restriction of duties as a result of disciplinary action
Civil Service Commissioners
Written feedback and comments will only be provided to those at the interview stage and will not be provided until the vacancy is complete.
If you are dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact [email protected] with your concerns.
If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commissioners complaints page https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilservicerecruitmentcomplaints/
Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles can be found here –
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/
Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules
Candidates will be subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
