Notice of open competitions — German-language (DE), Latvian-language (LV), Dutch-language (NL) and Portuguese-language (PT) Lawyer-linguists (AD 7)
Date: 2013-10-17
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: EPSO, Germany, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, competition (EU), legal profession








CA2013301EN.01000101.xml










17.10.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 301/1






NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITIONS

German-language (DE), Latvian-language (LV), Dutch-language (NL) and Portuguese-language (PT) Lawyer-linguists (AD 7)
(2013/C 301 A/01)
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising open competitions, based on qualifications and tests, to establish a reserve pool from which to recruit lawyer-linguists (1).






 



EPSO/AD/267/13 — German-language (DE) lawyer-linguists (AD 7)











 



EPSO/AD/268/13 — Latvian-language (LV) lawyer-linguists (AD 7)











 



EPSO/AD/269/13 — Dutch-language (NL) lawyer-linguists (AD 7)











 



EPSO/AD/270/13 — Portuguese-language (PT) lawyer-linguists (AD 7)





The purpose of these competitions is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts at the Court of Justice of the European Union.


Before applying, you should carefully read the Guide to open competitions published in Official Journal C 270 A of 7 September 2012 and on the EPSO website.




That 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.



CONDITIONS FOR ADMISSION











IV.



ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION AND SELECTION BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS











V.



COMPUTER-BASED PRELIMINARY TESTS











VI.



OPEN COMPETITION











VII.



RESERVE LISTS











VIII.



HOW TO APPLY













ANNEXES





I.   GENERAL BACKGROUND












1.


Number of successful candidates sought per competition







EPSO/AD/267/13 (DE) — 15


EPSO/AD/268/13 (LV) — 8


EPSO/AD/269/13 (NL) — 7


EPSO/AD/270/13 (PT) — 15











2.


Remarks






This notice covers several competitions. You may not apply for more than one.
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.

The competitions are intended for candidates with a perfect command, both written and spoken, of the language of the competition (mother tongue or equivalent). If you are not up to this standard, we would strongly advise you not to apply.





II.   DUTIES
The Court of Justice recruits highly qualified lawyers, who must be able to translate often complex legal/legislative texts into the language of the competition from at least two other languages. The work of a lawyer-linguist involves the use of IT and other office tools.
The duties involve translating legal texts (judgments of the Court of Justice, General Court and Civil Service Tribunal, opinions of the Advocates General, written pleadings of the parties, etc.) into the language of the competition from at least two of the other official languages of the European Union, and providing legal analysis in cooperation with the Registries and the other departments of the Court of Justice.
III.   CONDITIONS FOR ADMISSION

On the closing date for online applications 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

See the Annexes




2.2.



Knowledge of languages (see the Annexes)



The Court of Justice is a multilingual institution and the language rules under which it operates are defined in its Rules of Procedure.




The language options for the translation tests reflect the needs of the service and in particular the language coverage requirements of the translation units for which these competitions are being held. Given the large volume of translations required from French, one of the two compulsory translation tests must be from that language. The language options available to candidates for the second test depend on the specific needs of the language units concerned.




Because of the specific nature of these competitions, candidates' general competencies (see Section VI.2, tests (e) and (f)) will be assessed in the language of the competition (language 1 of the translation tests). This is by way of an exception to the language options that normally apply to the assessment centre (English, French, or German). Because of the constraints on lawyer-linguists' work at the Court of Justice, it is reasonable to allow candidates to take the general competency tests in the language of the competition, as this offers a better guarantee that the candidates recruited will be of the highest calibre in terms of ability, efficiency and integrity.






 



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)
HR (Croatian)
HU (Hungarian)
IT (Italian)
LT (Lithuanian)
LV (Latvian)


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





Language 1




Main language

A perfect command of the language of the competition





Language 2




First source language (must be different from language 1)

A thorough knowledge of language 2





Language 3




Second source language (must be different from languages 1 and 2)

A thorough knowledge of language 3
The knowledge and combination of languages required for each competition are described in the Annexes.




IV.   ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION AND SELECTION BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS
1.   Admission to the competition
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. Initially, compliance with those conditions will be checked on the basis of the information given in your application form.
2.   Selection based on qualifications

If the number of candidates found to satisfy the conditions for admission is equal to or more than 20 times the number of successful candidates sought for a particular competition, the selection board will screen the applications to identify the candidates whose qualifications (in particular, diplomas and professional experience) best match the duties described in this notice in terms of quality and level (see the selection criteria in point 4 below). This selection will be made on the basis of the information given by the candidates in their online application forms and using the following marking scheme:






(a)


each selection criterion is weighted between 1 and 3, according to how important the selection board considers it to be;










(b)


the selection board will award between 0 and 4 points for each criterion, depending on the candidate's qualifications.




The selection board will then draw up a list (2) of the candidates who have obtained the highest marks (3) in the selection based on qualifications (for each competition, no more than 20 times the number of successful candidates indicated in this notice of competition) and will invite them to take the preliminary tests. The number will be published on EPSO's website (http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/eu-careers.info/).


If the number of candidates found to satisfy the conditions for admission is less than 20 times the number of successful candidates sought, a selection based on qualifications will not be required and the selection board will invite them all to take the preliminary tests.


3.   Verification of information given by candidates
After the assessment centre tests, and in the light of the results, EPSO will verify that the information given by the candidates in their online applications satisfies the general conditions, while the selection board will do the same as regards the specific conditions and (if applicable) the criteria for selection based on qualifications. If verification shows that the information given is not borne out by the appropriate supporting documents, the candidates concerned will be disqualified from the competition.
Applications will be verified, in descending order of merit, for candidates with pass marks who obtained the best aggregate marks in the preliminary tests and assessment centre tests (see Sections V and VI). Verification will continue until the number of candidates who can be placed on the reserve list and who actually fulfil all the conditions for admission reaches the threshold. The supporting documents of candidates below the threshold will not be examined.
4.   Selection criteria
When carrying out the selection based on qualifications, the selection board will take into consideration the following criteria:






—


proven experience in the field of legal translation,










—


professional experience in drafting legal texts,










—


legal work experience acquired:






—


in a law firm,










—


as an in-house lawyer in a business,










—


in a national administration or an international organisation,














—


relevance of the candidate's linguistic profile in relation to the language coverage requirements of the competition,










—


knowledge of additional official languages of the European Union (attested by certificates).




V.   COMPUTER-BASED PRELIMINARY TESTS (4)







(a)


Translation into the competition language (language 1) of a legal text in language 2, without a dictionary.
This test will be marked out of 80 (pass mark: 40).
Time allowed: 2 hours.










(b)


Translation into the competition language (language 1) of a legal text in language 3, without a dictionary.
This test will be marked out of 80 (pass mark: 40).
Time allowed: 2 hours.





If the candidate fails test (a), test (b) will not be marked.

The marks obtained in these tests will count towards the final result together with the marks obtained in the assessment centre tests.
VI.   OPEN COMPETITION















1.


Invitation






You will be invited to the assessment centre, normally for one and a half days in Luxembourg, if you pass computer-based preliminary tests (a) and (b) with one of the highest marks (5). Your marks in those tests will be added to your marks in the assessment centre tests.










2.


Assessment centre






You will take three types of assessment test:






—


reasoning skills: tests (a), (b) and (c),










—


specific competencies: test (d),










—


general competencies: tests (e) and (f).





Your reasoning skills
 (6) will be assessed by means of:






(a)


a verbal reasoning test;










(b)


a numerical reasoning test;










(c)


an abstract reasoning test.





Your specific competencies will be assessed by means of:






(d)


an interview to assess your specialist knowledge and command of the language in the field of national law and European Union law; during the interview you will be asked to give an oral presentation.





Your general competencies
 (7) will be assessed by means of (8):






(e)


a structured interview;










(f)


a group exercise.





Each general competency will be tested as follows:





 


Structured interview
(e)


Group exercise
(f)




Analysis and problem-solving


 


x




Communication


x


 




Delivering quality and results


x


 




Learning and development


x


x




Prioritising and organising


x


x




Resilience


x


x




Working with others


 


x




Leadership


 


x










3.


Languages for tests (a) to (f)






Language 1










4.


Marking






Reasoning skills








(a)


:


Verbal


:


marked out of 20




(b)


:


Numerical


:


marked out of 10




(c)


:


Abstract


:


marked out of 10




Tests (a), (b), and (c) are not eliminatory; the marks will be added to the marks in the other assessment centre tests.
Specific competencies






(d)


Marked out of 20
Pass mark: 10




General competencies
Marked out of 80 for all competencies (10 per competency)
Pass mark:






 


3 per competency and










 


an aggregate of 40 for all eight general competencies.








VII.   RESERVE LISTS












1.


Candidates placed on the reserve lists (9)







The selection board will place you on the reserve list (10) (see ‘Number of successful candidates’, Section I.1) if you satisfy all the conditions set out in Section IV.










2.


Classification






A list will be drawn up for each competition, with names listed in alphabetical order.




VIII.   HOW TO APPLY












1.


Online application






You must apply online, following the instructions on the EPSO website and particularly in the online application manual.

Deadline (including validation): 19 November 2013 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time










2.


Submission of application files







If you are invited to the assessment centre, you must bring your full application file (signed copy of your online application form and supporting documents) with you (11).

Procedure: see point 6.1 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 take the preliminary tests will be sent the results of their evaluation and the weighting applied to each selection criterion by the selection board.

(3)  Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be invited to sit the computer-based preliminary tests.

(4)  The preliminary tests will be held in test centres in the Member States.

(5)  The number of candidates to be invited to the assessment centre will be approximately four times the number of successful candidates (by competition) indicated in this notice, and will be published on EPSO's website (http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/eu-careers.info/). Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be invited to the assessment centre.

(6)  Organisational constraints may make it necessary to conduct the reasoning tests in test centres in the Member States, separately from the other assessment centre tests. They are computer-based and are organised by EPSO. The selection board decides on the difficulty of the tests and approves their subject matter on the basis of proposals made by EPSO.

(7)  More information on these competencies can be found in point 1.2 of the Guide to open competitions.

(8)  The content is validated by the selection board.

(9)  The European Commission has begun negotiations to amend the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union. In particular, the amendment may concern officials' careers and the type of posts they and other staff occupy. Successful candidates could be recruited on the basis of the new Staff Regulations following their adoption by the legislature, and there may also be other legal or financial consequences.

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

(11)  You will be notified in good time via your EPSO account of the date when you have to attend.


ANNEX I
EPSO/AD/267/13
GERMAN-LANGUAGE (DE) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications:
You must have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a degree in German or Austrian law.

(Juristische Ausbildung im deutschen oder im österreichischen Recht, die mit der deutschen Ersten Juristischen Staatsprüfung bzw. mit dem österreichischen Magister der Rechtswissenschaften abgeschlossen wurde).

To determine whether a candidate has attained a level corresponding to completed university studies, the selection board will take into account the rules in force at the time when the degree was awarded.
2.   Knowledge of languages






(a)


Language 1
A perfect command of German










(b)


Language 2
A thorough knowledge of French










(c)


Language 3
A thorough knowledge of one of the other official languages of the European Union, which must be different from languages 1 and 2







ANNEX II
EPSO/AD/268/13
LATVIAN-LANGUAGE (LV) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications:
You must have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a degree in Latvian law.

(Kandidātiem ir jābūt diplomam par augstāko juridisko izglītību Latvijas tiesību zinātnēs, kas iegūts akreditētā studiju programmā, vai minētā līmeņa izglītībai pielīdzināmam diplomam un jurista kvalifikācijai).

To determine whether a candidate has attained a level corresponding to completed university studies, the selection board will take into account the rules in force at the time when the degree was awarded.
2.   Knowledge of languages






(a)


Language 1
A perfect command of Latvian










(b)


Language 2
A thorough knowledge of English, French, German, Italian or Spanish










(c)


Language 3
A thorough knowledge of one of the other official languages of the European Union, which must be different from languages 1 and 2





Language 2 or language 3 must be French




ANNEX III
EPSO/AD/269/13
DUTCH-LANGUAGE (NL) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications:
You must have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a degree in Dutch law or in Belgian law awarded by a Dutch-language university.

(Voltooide juridische studie, afgesloten met een diploma Nederlands recht (doctorandus of master) of Belgisch recht (licentiaat of master), afgegeven door een Nederlandstalige rechtenfaculteit).

To determine whether a candidate has attained a level corresponding to completed university studies, the selection board will take into account the rules in force at the time when the degree was awarded.
2.   Knowledge of languages






(a)


Language 1
A perfect command of Dutch










(b)


Language 2
A thorough knowledge of French










(c)


Language 3
A thorough knowledge of one of the other official languages of the European Union, which must be different from languages 1 and 2







ANNEX IV
EPSO/AD/270/13
PORTUGUESE-LANGUAGE (PT) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications:
You must have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a degree in Portuguese law.

(Os candidatos devem ter concluído um curso superior sancionado por um diploma de ‘Licenciatura em Direito’ atribuído por uma universidade portuguesa).

To determine whether a candidate has attained a level corresponding to completed university studies, the selection board will take into account the rules in force at the time when the degree was awarded.
2.   Knowledge of languages






(a)


Language 1
A perfect command of Portuguese










(b)


Language 2
A thorough knowledge of French or German










(c)


Language 3
A thorough knowledge of English, French, German or Italian





Language 2 or language 3 must be French