Notice of open competitions — EPSO/AD/200/10 — Lawyers (EN) — EPSO/AD/201/10 — Lawyers (ES) — EPSO/AD/202/10 — Lawyers (FR) — EPSO/AD/203/10 — Lawyers (NL)
Date: 2010-10-21
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: EPSO, European civil service, administrative competition, invitation to tender, legal profession, public contract








CA2010285EN.01000101.xml










21.10.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 285/1





NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITIONS
EPSO/AD/200/10 — LAWYERS (EN)
EPSO/AD/201/10 — LAWYERS (ES)
EPSO/AD/202/10 — LAWYERS (FR)
EPSO/AD/203/10 — LAWYERS (NL)
(2010/C 285 A/01)


Are you interested in working for the European institutions?




Does your profile meet our criteria?




Why not apply?




Give yourself a chance to succeed.


The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising open competitions, based on qualifications and tests, to constitute a reserve from which to recruit administrators.

ADMINISTRATORS (1) (AD 5) SPECIALISING IN LEGAL RESEARCH


EPSO/AD/200/10 — Lawyers qualified in English, Scottish or Northern Irish law


EPSO/AD/201/10 — Lawyers qualified in Spanish law


EPSO/AD/202/10 — Lawyers qualified in French law


EPSO/AD/203/10 — Lawyers qualified in Dutch law

The purpose of these competitions is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts in the institutions of the European Union, in particular the Research and Documentation Directorate of the Court of Justice.


Before applying, you should read carefully the guide published in Official Journal C 184 A of 8 July 2010 and on the EPSO website.




This guide is an integral part of the competition notice and will help you to understand the rules governing the procedure and how to apply.


CONTENTS






I.



GENERAL BACKGROUND











II.



DUTIES











III.



ELIGIBILITY











IV.



ADMISSION TESTS











V.



ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION AND INVITATION TO THE ASSESSMENT CENTRE











VI.



OPEN COMPETITION











VII.



RESERVE LISTS











VIII.



HOW TO APPLY





I.   GENERAL BACKGROUND













1.



Number of successful candidates







Competition No 1: EPSO/AD/200/10 — EN = 3


Competition No 2: EPSO/AD/201/10 — ES = 3


Competition No 3: EPSO/AD/202/10 — FR = 3


Competition No 4: EPSO/AD/203/10 — NL = 3












2.



Remarks






You may not apply for more than one of these competitions.
You must make your choice when you apply online and you will not be able to change it after you have confirmed and validated your online application form.




II.   DUTIES
The Research and Documentation Directorate, staffed with lawyers from all of the Union's Member States, assists the Court of Justice, the General Court, and the Civil Service Tribunal in carrying out their judicial duties and contributes to the dissemination of European Union case-law.
The Directorate is in particular required to carry out research, at the request of the Courts or the Tribunal, related to the cases that they are dealing with. Such research can concern European Union law or the law of one or more Member States, or even that of third countries, using a comparative law approach.
The Directorate plays a major role in the broader dissemination of the case-law of the Courts and the Tribunal by carrying out a systematic analysis of such case-law and by developing research tools.
The Directorate's lawyers assist in all of the tasks indicated above.
It is important to emphasise two aspects of the Directorate's work:






1.


In addition to a very good knowledge of European Union law, the duties involved require an extensive, in-depth, and up-to-date knowledge of the lawyer's own national law as well as excellent legal research skills.










2.


In order to be able to carry out their duties, the Research and Documentation Directorate's lawyers must have a satisfactory knowledge of French.




The general profile of candidates sought by the institutions is described in point 1.2 of the guide to open competitions.
III.   ELIGIBILITY
, you must fulfil all the following general and specific conditions:















1.



General conditions














(a)


You must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.










(b)


You must enjoy your full rights as a citizen.










(c)


You must have fulfilled any obligations imposed on you by the laws on military service.










(d)


You must meet the character requirements for the duties involved.















2.



Specific conditions









2.1




Qualifications

You must have a level of education corresponding to completed university studies attested by a law degree when the normal period of university education is equivalent to 4 years or more,
or
a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a law degree and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year when the normal period of university education is equivalent to at least 3 years.
The law degree must correspond to the legal system of the competition selected by the candidate.
For Competition EPSO/AD/200/10 — Lawyers qualified in English, Scottish or Northern Irish law, qualification as a barrister, solicitor or advocate will be regarded as equivalent to a law degree.





2.2




Professional experience

No professional experience is required.





2.3




Knowledge of languages


The official languages of the European Union are:





BG (Bulgarian)
CS (Czech)
DA (Danish)
DE (German)
EL (Greek)
EN (English)
ES (Spanish)
ET (Estonian)


FI (Finnish)
FR (French)
GA (Irish)
HU (Hungarian)
IT (Italian)
LT (Lithuanian)
LV (Latvian)
MT (Maltese)


NL (Dutch)
PL (Polish)
PT (Portuguese)
RO (Romanian)
SK (Slovak)
SL (Slovenian)
SV (Swedish)










(a)


Language 1







Main language

Competition No 1: thorough knowledge of English (EN)
Competition No 2: thorough knowledge of Spanish (ES)
Competition No 3: thorough knowledge of French (FR)
Competition No 4: thorough knowledge of Dutch (NL)




and


 










(b)


Language 2







Second language

Satisfactory knowledge of French for competitions 1, 2 and 4,
and
satisfactory knowledge of German or English for competition 3.




IV.   ADMISSION TESTS

Admission tests will be organised only if the number of candidates applying exceeds 200 per competition. In this case you will be informed via your EPSO account.















1.



You will be invited to sit the tests






, you have declared that you fulfil the general and specific conditions listed in section III.











2.



Nature and marking of tests






A series of tests comprising multiple-choice questions to assess your general ability as regards:





Test (a)



Verbal reasoning


Marking: 0- 20.
Pass mark: 10.





Test (b)



Numerical reasoning


Marking: 0- 10.





Test (c)



Abstract reasoning


Marking: 0- 10.




 


The aggregate pass mark for tests (b) and (c) is 10.











3.



Language of the tests






Language 1




V.   ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION AND INVITATION TO THE ASSESSMENT CENTRE
1.   Procedure
Initially compliance with the general and specific conditions will be checked on the basis of the information given in your application form. The selection based on qualifications will be made on the same basis.






(a)


Your answers to the questions relating to the general and specific conditions will be processed to determine whether you can be included in the list of candidates who fulfil all the conditions for admission to the competition.
If prior admission tests are organised, compliance with the general and specific conditions will be checked for the best-placed candidates on the basis of the marks obtained in those tests in descending order until a list has been compiled of 200 candidates who:






—


obtained the highest marks (of those with pass marks) in the admission tests, and










—


fulfil the eligibility criteria for admission to the competition.




Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be included in the selection phase based on qualifications. Online applications from candidates below the threshold will not be examined.










(b)


For the candidates who fulfil the conditions for admission to the competition, the selection board will then carry out a selection on the basis of qualifications to identify those whose profile (particularly their diplomas and professional experience) best matches the duties and selection criteria set out in the competition notice. There are two stages in this selection process:






—


according to the importance attached to each criterion set out in point 3 below, the selection board will set a weighting (1 to 3) for each corresponding question. The first initial selection based on the qualifications will be made on the basis of the answers ticked under the 'Talent Screener' tab of the online application form and the weighting of each of the questions. The online applications of the candidates who obtain the highest number of points will then go through to a second selection stage. The number of files to be examined at this stage will be approximately three times the number of candidates who will be invited to the assessment centre,










—


in the second selection stage, the selection board will examine candidates' answers and, based on their profile, will award 0 to 4 points for each answer; the points are then multiplied by the weighting for each question.








The selection board will then draw up a list of candidates in the order of the points awarded. The number of candidates invited to the assessment centre (2) will not exceed four times the number of successful candidates indicated in the competition notice and will be published on EPSO's website (www.eu-careers.eu).
2.   Verification of information given by candidates
Following the assessment centre session, and in light of the results, EPSO will verify the information given by candidates in their online applications for compliance with the general conditions and the selection board will do the same as regards the specific conditions and selection criteria. If verification shows that the information given is not borne out by the appropriate supporting documents, candidates will be disqualified.
Applications will be verified for candidates with the highest aggregate marks, and at least pass marks, in tests (d), (e) and (f) in the assessment centre session, in descending order. These candidates must also have obtained pass marks in the aptitude tests (a), (b), and (c). Verification will continue until the number of candidates who can be placed on the reserve list and actually fulfil all the conditions for admission reaches the threshold. The files of candidates below this threshold will not be examined.
3.   Selection criteria
In the selection on the basis of qualifications, the board will take into consideration the following:






1.


qualifications and postgraduate diplomas in the field of law, with particular significance attributed to those qualifications which substantiate the candidates' extensive, in-depth, and up-to-date expert knowledge of their national law;










2.


work experience in the field of legal research;










3.


qualifications in comparative law;










4.


work experience in the field of comparative law;










5.


qualifications in European Union law;










6.


work experience in the field of European Union law;










7.


publications;










8.


proven knowledge of French;










9.


proven knowledge of other languages.




VI.   OPEN COMPETITION













1.



You will be invited to attend an assessment centre session






You will be invited to attend an assessment centre session (3), which will normally be held in Luxembourg over one or two days, if:






—


you are one of the candidates with the highest marks in the admission tests (if such tests were held, see IV) and at least the pass marks,
and










—


the information given in your online application shows that you fulfil the general and specific conditions listed in section III,
and










—


you obtained one of the highest points totals in the selection based on qualifications.















2.



Assessment centre






You will be assessed on your reasoning competencies if they have not already been assessed in admission tests. Assessment will be by means of:






(a)


a verbal reasoning test;










(b)


a numerical reasoning test;










(c)


an abstract reasoning test.




You will be assessed on your specific competencies in the field and the following general competencies:






—


Analysis and problem solving










—


Communication










—


Delivering quality and results










—


Learning and development










—


Prioritising and organising










—


Resilience










—


Working with others










—


Leadership




More information on these competencies can be found in point 1.2 of the guide to open competitions.
These competencies are tested by means of:






(d)


a case study concerning an area of national law, either public law or the law of contracts and torts (at the selection board's discretion);










(e)


writing a briefing note on the basis of the documentation provided;










(f)


a structured interview.















3.



Languages for the assessment centre






Language 1 for parts (a), (b), (c) and (d).
Language 2 for parts (e) and (f).











4.



Marking







Reasoning (where applicable)






(a)


Verbal: 0-20
Pass mark: 10










(b)


Numerical: 0-10










(c)


Abstract: 0-10
Aggregate pass mark for tests (b) and (c): 10.




Tests (a), (b), and (c) are eliminatory, but the marks will not be added to the marks for the other assessment centre items.

Specific competencies







(d)


Case study: 0-60
Pass mark: 30










(e)


Note writing: 0-40
Pass mark: 20.





General competencies

Marking: 80 in total for all general competencies (10 per competency)
Pass mark:






 


3 for each competency, and










 


an aggregate of 40 for all eight general competencies.








VII.   RESERVE LISTS













1.



Candidates placed on the reserve lists






The selection board will place you on the reserve list (see number of successful candidates, section I.1) if you are among the candidates who satisfy all the conditions set out in section V (4).











2.



Classification






Reserve lists will be drawn up by competition and names will be listed in alphabetical order.




VIII.   HOW TO APPLY













1.



Online application






You must apply online following the instructions on the EPSO website.

Deadline: 19 November 2010 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time.











2.



Submission of application files







At a later date, if you are one of the candidates invited to the assessment centre, you will have to submit a full application file (signed online application form and supporting documents) when requested.

Closing date: you will be informed of the closing date solely via your EPSO account.

Details: see point 2.2 of the guide to open competitions.






(1)  Any reference in this notice to a person of the male sex must be deemed also to constitute a reference to a person of the female sex.

(2)  Candidates who are not invited to the assessment centre can obtain the results of their assessment and the weighting assigned to each question by the selection board by filing a request within 10 calendar days of being notified that they will not be admitted to the competition.

(3)  Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be invited to the assessment centre session.

(4)  Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be placed on the reserve list.