Notice of open competitions — EPSO/AD/279/14 — Danish-language (DA) Lawyer-linguists (AD 7) — EPSO/AD/280/14 — Finnish-language (FI) Lawyer-linguists (AD 7) — EPSO/AD/281/14 — Slovak-language (SK) Lawyer-linguists (AD 7) — EPSO/AD/282/14 — Slovenian-language (SL) Lawyer-linguists (AD 7) — EPSO/AD/283/14 — Swedish-language (SV) Lawyer-linguists (AD 7)
Date: 2014-05-15
Institutions: European Personnel Selection Office
Subjects: Denmark, EPSO, Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, administrator, competition (EU), legal profession, linguistics








CA2014145EN.01000101.xml










15.5.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 145/1





NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITIONS
EPSO/AD/279/14 — DANISH-LANGUAGE (DA) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
EPSO/AD/280/14 — FINNISH-LANGUAGE (FI) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
EPSO/AD/281/14 — SLOVAK-LANGUAGE (SK) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
EPSO/AD/282/14 — SLOVENIAN-LANGUAGE (SL) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
EPSO/AD/283/14 — SWEDISH-LANGUAGE (SV) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
2014/C 145 A/01
 
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising open competitions, based on qualifications and tests, to establish a reserve from which to recruit lawyer-linguists (1).
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 general rules governing open competitions published in Official Journal of the European Union 
C 60 A of 1 March 2014 and on the EPSO website.




That document 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 TO THE COMPETITION AND SELECTION BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS










V.


COMPUTER-BASED PRELIMINARY TESTS










VI.


ASSESSMENT CENTRE










VII.


RESERVE LISTS










VIII.


HOW TO APPLY





ANNEXES

I.   GENERAL BACKGROUND













1.


Number of successful candidates sought per competition







EPSO/AD/279/14 (DA) — 10


EPSO/AD/280/14 (FI) — 8


EPSO/AD/281/14 (SK) — 14


EPSO/AD/282/14 (SL) — 10


EPSO/AD/283/14 (SV) — 8











2.


Notes






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.

These competitions are intended for candidates who have 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.   ELIGIBILITY



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)






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 language knowledge and language combination required for each competition are described in 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 open 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). Owing to 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.




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 are one of the candidates who fulfil all the conditions for admission to the competition. Initially, compliance with these 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 who satisfy the conditions for admission is equal to or higher 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). Selections will be made on the basis of the information given in the online applications, using the following marking scheme:






(a)


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










(b)


the board will award between 0 and 4 points for each criterion, according to 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 sought, as 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 admission conditions 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 the information given by candidates

In the light of the results of the assessment centre tests, EPSO will subsequently 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 the criteria for selection based on qualifications (where applicable). 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


For the selection based on qualifications, the following criteria will be taken into consideration by the selection board:







—


Proven experience in the field of legal translation










—


Professional experience of drafting legal texts










—


Legal experience acquired:






—


in a law firm










—


as an in-house lawyer in a business










—


in a national administration or an international organisation














—


Relevance of candidates’ language knowledge 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 is marked out of 80 (pass mark: 40).
Duration of the test: 110 minutes.






(b)


Translation into the competition language (language 1) of a legal text in language 3, without a dictionary.




This test is marked out of 80 (pass mark: 40).
Duration of the test: 110 minutes.

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

The marks obtained in these tests, together with the marks obtained in the assessment centre tests, will count towards the final mark.
VI.   ASSESSMENT CENTRE













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 undergo three types of assessment:






—




reasoning skills

 (6) will be assessed by means of:






(a)


a verbal reasoning test










(b)


a numerical reasoning test










(c)


an abstract reasoning test














—




specific competencies
 in the field 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.














—




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





Communicating



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 your 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






The selection board will place you on the reserve list (9) (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): 1 July 2014 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 when you attend (10).

Details: see Section 2.1.7 of the general rules governing 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 written 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 the computer-based preliminary tests.

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

(5)  For each competition, the number of candidates invited to the assessment centre will be approximately 4 times the number of successful candidates sought that is indicated in this competition notice. It 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)  For organisational reasons, these reasoning tests may be held 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 Section 1.2 of the general rules governing open competitions.

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

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

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


ANNEX I
EPSO/AD/279/14
DANISH-LANGUAGE (DA) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications

You must have a level of education corresponding to completed university studies attested by one of the following qualifications in Danish law:
(Juridisk kandidateksamen (cand.jur.) eller erhvervsøkonomisk-erhvervsjuridisk kandidateksamen (cand.merc.jur)).
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 Danish










(b)



Language 2

A thorough knowledge of English, French, German, Italian, Polish, 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 II
EPSO/AD/280/14
FINNISH-LANGUAGE (FI) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications

You must have a level of education corresponding to completed university studies attested by one of the following qualifications in Finnish law:
(Hakijalla on oltava hakemuksen viimeiseen jättöpäivään mennessä suoritettuna asetuksen 794/2004 mukainen oikeustieteen maisterin tutkinto, aikaisempi oikeustieteen kandidaatin tutkinto tai muu vastaava oikeustieteellinen ylempi korkeakoulututkinto ja lain 1093/2007 8§ :n3 momentissa tarkoitettu ETA-kelpoisuuskoe).
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 Finnish










(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/281/14
SLOVAK-LANGUAGE (SK) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications

You must have a level of education corresponding to completed university studies attested by a qualification in Slovak law giving access to postgraduate study.
(Vysokoškolské štúdium v oblasti slovenského práva ukončené diplomom z odboru právo, ktorý umožňuje pokračovať vzdelávanie v doktorandskom študijnom programe).
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 Slovak










(b)



Language 2

A thorough knowledge of French










(c)



Language 3

A thorough knowledge of one of the following official languages: English, German, Italian, Polish or Spanish.







ANNEX IV
EPSO/AD/282/14
SLOVENIAN-LANGUAGE (SL) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications

You must have a level of education corresponding to completed university studies attested by one of the following qualifications in Slovenian law:
(Končana slovenska pravna izobrazba z nazivom univerzitetni diplomirani pravnik ali z nazivoma diplomirani pravnik in magister prava).
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 Slovenian










(b)



Language 2

A thorough knowledge of French










(c)



Language 3

A thorough knowledge of English, German, Italian or Spanish.







ANNEX V
EPSO/AD/283/14
SWEDISH-LANGUAGE (SV) LAWYER-LINGUISTS (AD 7)
1.   Qualifications

You must have a level of education corresponding to completed university studies attested by a degree in Swedish law or by an equivalent degree.
(Juridisk universitetsutbildning på svenska: jur.kand.-examen, juristexamen eller motsvarande).
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 Swedish










(b)



Language 2

A thorough knowledge of French










(c)



Language 3

A thorough knowledge of English, German, Italian, Polish, or Spanish.