Court Associate

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Salary: London (within M25): £29,664 - £31,200

These positions are available for external applicants as well as existing civil servants on level transfer or promotion.

New recruits to the Civil Service joining MoJ are expected to join at the band minimum. Secondments and loans will be considered on an individual basis.

Background:

The Tribunals Service and HM Court Service were integrated into a single Agency, HM Courts, and Tribunals Service on 1st April 2011. Bringing these two organisations together has removed duplication in management functions and increased the efficiency of the administration, which has enabled HMCTS to reduce what it spends away from the front line substantially.

Consequently, there are high expectations of all staff regardless of the job they do, and high performance is expected from everybody. The organisation is continuously adopting new or better ways of working to ensure that it focuses on just that which is essential.

Band EO staff will need to display a commitment to four key principles: Continuous change, LEAN principles, managing uncertainty and improving performance. All those appointed to new roles in HMCTS must be wholeheartedly committed to these principles and evidence this in their application.

Overview

The Employment Appeal Tribunal is an independent tribunal which determines legal disputes relating to employment law throughout Great Britain. The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a superior court of record (section 20 Employment Tribunals Act 1996).

Most of the work of the Employment Appeal Tribunal relates to appeals against decisions made by the Employment Tribunal. An appeal lies to the Employment Appeal Tribunal against a decision of the Employment Tribunal on any question of law, as provided by section 21 Employment Tribunals Act 1996, where a legal mistake may have been made in the case. This might be because the Employment Tribunal:

• got the law wrong
• didn’t apply the correct law
• didn’t follow the correct procedures and this affected the decision
• had no evidence to support its decision

The Employment Appeal Tribunal also hears appeals and applications about decisions made by the certification officer and the Central Arbitration Committee. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has limited original jurisdiction, arising from the provisions of the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999, and the European Public Limited-Liability Regulations 2004.

The key purpose of the role is to:

• Act as a court associate and progress appeals in accordance with the Employment Appeal Tribunal Practice Direction (2018) and the directions of the Registrar or their nominee.
• To attend court with either a circuit judge, senior circuit Judge or high court judge and to keep a full and accurate record of proceedings.
• Undertake such administrative roles as appropriate to grade as directed by the line manager.

Key Responsibilities:

Administration

To ensure that all relevant documentation is completed fully, accurately and in timely manner.

• To ensure that the digital court files are kept up to date and complete.
• To fully result all cases.

Drafting

• To take a note of the evidence given and any legal submissions.
• To make a full and accurate record of all adjudications.

Operations

• To be aware of, and act on, any special requirements such as video equipment, tape recorder, interpreter etc.
• To be in court no later than 20 minutes before the start of the hearing.
• Thoroughly check cases electronically and paper files in good time before the hearing.
• To use the CMS computer system to progress cases, produce all relevant documents including, orders and letters, annotate case status at every stage and to close cases when decided.
• In the absence of an usher, to call in witnesses and administer oaths and affirmations.
• To use the courts digital systems, i.e., DARTS.
• To meet with the EAT judge before the start of the hearing and appraise them of the state of the day’s list and continue to update throughout the day.
• To be able to answer questions on the case (being able to give a history of the case) in hearing and to the district judge as required.
• Ensure the effective management and planning of the business within the tribunal.
• Take part in employee engagement activities to effect good working relationships with staff and to improve service delivery and staff morale /motivation.
• Comply with HMCTS values, policies, and procedures (including diversity, attendance, and discipline).
• To participate in any relevant training as required.

Team Leadership

• All EO staff are expected to deal with other ad hoc management roles including line management of AO and AA staff as required.

Processing and Managing casework

• Responsible for the management of a case load.
• Progressing appeals in line with set procedures, the Employment Appeal Tribunal Practice Direction (2018) and judicial instruction. This includes dealing with paper applications, managing the receipt of formal court material for hearing, and dealing with telephone calls and queries.
• Court Associate time is split between at-desk case management and in-court duties.

Calculations and analysis

• Identify and implement solutions to local problems, referring more complex. problems to a Cluster Delivery Manager.

Communicating with the public, juries, the judiciary, other court and tribunal users and representatives of other agencies and organisations

• Maintain effective liaison with judiciary, user groups and representatives.
• Think beyond own area of responsibility, considering wider policy and organisational implications of issues.
• Dealing with complaints in an efficient manner.
• Implement local communication plans which meet the needs of the target audience.
• Representation
• Represent the function you have been assigned to at an operational level.
• Specialist Roles
• To have a working knowledge of functions undertaken within the Cluster, to support the development and review of policies and procedures.
• Accountability
• The court associate will report to a manager within the administration team who will be their line manager. When acting as a court associate in court the post holder will be accountable to, and subject to the directions of the legal team manager.
• Customer service and standards
• Promotes customer focussed activity and standards - has strong written and interpersonal skills utilising principles of Human Voice of Justice.
• Contributes to SOC, SAF – leads on maintaining standards of service and identifies. areas for improvement – takes forward solutions using ‘continuous improvement’ techniques.
• Management of complaints and competent in use of OPTIC.

Other Duties

The post holder is required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.

Application Process:

To apply for this position please complete the online application form, ensuring you provide the following:

Using the Success Profile STAR methodology, provide a 250-word suitability statement against each of the following Behaviours (Level 2):

• Communicating & Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on one lead behaviour. The chosen lead behaviour for this campaign is Communicating & Influencing.

If selected for interview, please note that will be held face to face. The above Success Profile Behaviours (Level 2) will be tested / assessed at interview, along with three Strengths

Further information on Success Profiles Behaviours, as well as required standards for this post (Level 2) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles

If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.

We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity

The MoJ is proud to be Level 3 Disability Confident. Disability Confident is the approach through which we offer guaranteed interviews for all people with disabilities meeting the minimum criteria for the advertised role as set out in the job description.

Security Clearance:

This role requires Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC).

Location of Post:

Whilst a Court Associate will have a specific base court, you may be required to travel to a different location across the business/functional areas, within reasonable distance and travel time on a non-permanent basis.

This job description is a guide to the principal current duties of the post. It is not an exhaustive list of the duties and responsibilities and the postholder may be required to undertake any other duties from time to time that are commensurate with the seniority and nature of the post.

Terms & Conditions:

Flexible Working Options

HMCTS offers a flexible working system in many of its offices.

Job Sharing and Reduced Hours

All applications for job sharing or reduced hours will be treated fairly and on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the MoJ’s flexible working policy and equality policy.

Excess Fares and Relocation Allowances

This job is not eligible for relocation allowances, but excess fares may be considered in accordance with MoJ’s excess fares allowance policy.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Job contact :

Name :
SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
Email :
Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
Telephone :
0845 241 5359

Recruitment team :

Email :
Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com