Notice of open competition on the basis of qualifications and tests No CJ 238/21 – Head of Unit (AD 12) of the Irish language in the field of legal translation
Date: 2023-07-19
Institutions: Court of Justice of the European Union
Subjects: Ireland, administrator, competition (EU), information profession, legal profession, recruitment








CA2023254EN.01000101.xml










19.7.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CA 254/1






NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITION ON THE BASIS OF QUALIFICATIONS AND TESTS NO CJ 238/21
Head of Unit (AD 12) of the Irish language in the field of legal translation
(2023/C 254 A/01)
The Court of Justice of the European Union is organising an open competition, based on qualifications and tests, to draw up a reserve list from which the Court of Justice in Luxembourg will be able to recruit a Head of the Irish legal translation unit at the Directorate-General for Multilingualism. This competition is being organised in accordance with Article 29(1) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union.
This notice forms the legally binding framework for this selection procedure.
The Directorate-General for Multilingualism (DGM) of the Court of Justice of the European Union ensures compliance with the language regime of the EU Courts, both as regards to the handling of proceedings (written and oral phases) and the delivery and publication of case-law. DGM comprises two language services: first, the legal translation service, which is itself composed of 2 directorates divided into 24 language units, one for each official language; second, the interpretation service, a directorate composed of 22 ‘booths’ or language teams, themselves divided into 3 units. Within DGM, three functional units provide support to the language units or booths in various areas such as external translation management, multilingualism support tools, the translation or hearing scheduling and the dissemination or publication of case-law. DGM also relies on the services of a large number of freelancer translators.
The legal translation directorates ensures the translation of the court documents processed and produced by the Court of Justice and the General Court. They thus guarantee the proper conduct of proceedings and the multilingual dissemination of case-law, thereby enabling all EU citizens to access European justice and case-law, whatever their language. The texts to be translated are of a wide variety and differ according to a range of factors, including nature of the case, subject matter, document type, language, style and length. The Irish legal translation unit is responsible for translating into that language, inter alia, judgments and orders of the Court of Justice and of the General Court, as well as Opinions of the Advocates-General. It is also responsible for translating the procedural documents necessary to support the proceedings.
The unit is made up of approximately 30 staff: Head of Unit, lawyer-linguists, proofreaders/language editors and assistants.
The reserve list will expire on 31 December of the year following the year in which it will have been drawn up. It may be extended, in which case the candidates on the list will be informed.
I.   DUTIES

Organising, coordinating and leading the work of the Irish legal translation unit. These duties include, in particular, the following responsibilities:






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Setting the unit’s objectives and monitoring their achievement: responsibility for quality at all levels of production, meeting deadlines, managing workload, organising language coverage, guiding terminological work.










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Managing the unit’s staff: participating in recruitment, welcoming and training new staff, motivating staff, monitoring career (assessment, preparation of staff reports) of unit staff, training, cooperation within the unit (team spirit).










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Organisation of the service: optimal use of resources, choice, monitoring and improvement of work methods, optimal use of translation tools, distribution of work, compliance with work rules.










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Responsibility for the unit’s outsourcing policy and monitoring of contract notices, in the capacity of authorising officer by sub-delegation.










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Representing the unit: presentations to visitors, participation in conferences.










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Cooperation with members from the courts of the language unit.










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Cooperation with general management and with heads of units of the Directorate-General for Multilingualism, as well as with other members of the institution’s middle and senior management, in line with the hierarchy, on transversal or institutional projects.










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Participation in interinstitutional cooperation.










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On a subsidiary basis, revision and, where necessary, translation into Irish of various legal texts.




To carry out these responsibilities, it is essential that the candidate have the ability to adapt, negotiate and listen, in order to promote internal synergy and ensure consistency with the Directorate-General’s strategy, paired with an aptitude for organisation and an openness to change.
II.   ADMISSION CRITERIA

On the closing date for the submission of applications, the candidate must meet all the following conditions:
1.   General conditions

A candidate must:






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enjoy full rights as a national of a Member State of the European Union,










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meet any obligations imposed by national laws on military service,










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meet the character requirements for the duties concerns.




2.   Special conditions — qualifications and professional experience







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A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma in law or equivalent, awarded in Ireland, or the title of barrister or solicitor obtained in Ireland; equivalent qualifications may also be taken into account.










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At least 6 years of university-level professional experience, acquired in a field relevant to the duties of the position.




To determine whether the candidate has attained a level which corresponds to completed university studies, the Selection Board will take into account the rules in force at the time when the diploma was obtained.
In order to assess experience, the Selection Board will take into account relevant information provided by candidates, such as:






1.


the title and precise description of the duties performed and their duration,










2.


the size of the staff supervised in those duties,










3.


the number of hierarchical layers above and below as well as the number of peers.




3.   Special conditions — languages

You must have thorough knowledge of 
at least three official EU languages
.






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Language 1 (main language): a perfect command of Irish.










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Language 2: a good knowledge of one of the 24 official languages of the European Union other than Irish.










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Language 3: a good knowledge of one of the 24 official languages of the European Union which must be different from languages 1 and 2.




For operational reasons, language 2 or language 3 must necessarily be French.
Language 1 of the competition corresponds to the internal working language of the language unit for which the reserve list will be drawn up and into which its lawyer-linguists translate legal texts. As the Head of Unit is responsible for the quality of the translations into Irish and must, on a subsidiary basis, carry out revision and, if necessary, the translation into Irish of various legal texts, he or she must have a perfect command of the Irish language.
The requirement of French as language 2 or 3 is justified by the large volume of translations to be carried out from that language. As the Head of Unit is responsible for the quality of those translations, it is essential that he or she be able to understand them in their source language. In order to determine whether candidates would be operational immediately, it is reasonable to expect that one of the notes to be drafted in the written test would be produced in French and that the oral test would be conducted in French.
III.   ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LIST OF CANDIDATES

The list of candidates who have submitted their applications in the required forms and by the required deadline is sent to the Selection Board together with the application files.
Consequently, candidates who have sent their application file (form and supporting documents) after the deadline and/or who have not used the compulsory form are eliminated at that stage.
IV.   RECRUITMENT POLICY

The Court of Justice of the European Union guarantees equal opportunities, subject to the comparative assessment of the candidates’ merits, and equal treatment of all persons who express an interest in a vacant post. It actively encourages the submission of diverse applications from candidates with varied experience, skills and knowledge, on the broadest possible geographical basis among the nationals of the Member States of the EU.
In this context, any candidate who has a disability or a medical condition that may affect his or her ability to take the tests is invited to contact the Recruitment and Careers Unit (candidatures.concours@curia.europa.eu) as soon as he or she submits his or her application, so that it can organise, in accordance with Article 1d of the Staff Regulations, the necessary accommodations to enable him or her to participate fully in the selection tests. To this end, the candidate may be asked to send the medical service of the Court an attestation issued by the national authority or a medical certificate, which will be examined so that the necessary accommodations can be made.
For information on data protection, please consult the specific privacy statement: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/P_95038/
V.   ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITION

The Selection Board examines the files of the candidates included on the list provided for in section III, on the basis of their application form and the supporting documents produced by the deadline for applications, and draws up the list of candidates who meet the conditions set out in section II of the competition notice and who are admitted to the tests.
Candidates who do not meet the conditions set out in section II of the competition notice or who have not substantiated their declarations by the deadline by means of relevant documents in PDF format are excluded at that stage.

Each candidate will be informed in writing of the Selection Board’s conclusions following that examination of his or her application file.

Admitted candidates will be asked to take a written test and, if necessary, an oral test, in principle in Luxembourg.
VI.   RECONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS

Within 10 calendar days of the date of the communication stating that his or her application has been unsuccessful, each candidate may request that his or her application be reconsidered if he or she believes that an error has been made.
Requests for reconsideration are to be sent, quoting the competition number, by email to candidatures.concours@curia.europa.eu
VII.   WRITTEN TEST

The written test will consist of the drafting of two notes, one in Irish, the other in French, aimed at assessing the candidates’ ability to lead a large administrative unit as well as their understanding of the challenges posed by translating legal texts within an international organisation.
Approximate duration of the test: 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Marking of the test: from 0 to 40 points. Candidates scoring less than 20 points will be eliminated.
The written tests will be held simultaneously for all candidates on the date and at the time indicated in the invitation (1).
Candidates will write these tests on a computer (2).
The Selection Board will assess the written tests anonymously.
VIII.   ORAL TEST

Candidates having obtained at least 50 % of the points in the written test will be admitted to take the oral test.
Each candidate will be informed in writing of the Selection Board’s conclusions.
The test will consist of an interview with the Selection Board to assess the candidates’ aptitudes, motivation and ability to adapt to the duties to be performed as well as their general and linguistic knowledge.
The test will take place in French.
Approximate duration of the test: 1 hour.
Marking of the test: from 0 to 60 points. Candidates scoring less than 30 points will be eliminated.
IX.   RECONSIDERATION OF THE TESTS

Within 10 calendar days of the date of the communication stating that he or she has not obtained the minimum number of points required in one of the tests, each candidate may request that his or her test be reconsidered if he or she believes that an error has been made.
Requests for reconsideration are to be sent, quoting the competition number, by email to candidatures.concours@curia.europa.eu
X.   INCLUSION ON THE RESERVE LIST

The three best candidates having obtained at least 50 % of the points required for each of the tests will be placed on the reserve list, in alphabetical order.
Candidates’ attention is drawn to the fact that inclusion on the reserve list does not guarantee nomination as Head of Unit.
XI.   SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS







1.


Persons wishing to take part in this competition are required to send their application using the application form that is published at the same time as the notice of competition on the intranet of the Court of Justice, the Curia website and the interinstitutional portal.










2.


That form, together with supporting documents relating in particular to qualifications and professional experience, as well as a copy of their identity card or passport that must be valid on the closing date for applications, must be submitted in PDF format only (no other format will be accepted) at the latest on 29 September 2023 at 17:00, Luxembourg time, to the following email address: candidatures.concours@curia.europa.eu










3.


Candidates’ attention is drawn to the fact that they must produce, for that same date, copies of all supporting documents for diplomas and professional experience both inside and outside the institutions. Those supporting documents are the only documents that the Selection Board will be able to consider in drawing up the list of candidates admitted to the tests.










4.


Under no circumstances will a curriculum vitae be regarded as a supporting document.










5.


Candidates may not, under any circumstances, refer to documents, application forms, information sheets, etc. submitted during previous applications and/or which are in their personal file at the Court.




XII.   INFORMATION ABOUT PLACEMENT THROUGHOUT RECRUITMENT, TRANSFERS AND MOVES

Successful candidates on the reserve list may be recruited, as probationary officials, only by the Court of Justice of the European Union. After a period of 2 years from the establishment of the reserve list, with the agreement of the Court, successful candidates on the reserve list may also be recruited by the institutions and agencies of the EU based in Luxembourg to a post located in Luxembourg.
Article 29(1)(a)(i) and (b) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union offers officials the possibility of requesting a transfer within the same EU institution or agency or to another EU institution or agency at any time during their career.
Candidates’ attention is however drawn to the fact that, in the interests of the service:






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during the first 3 years of service after taking up his or her duties as a probationary official, transfer to another EU institution or agency which does not involve a change of place of employment is possible only in exceptional cases and for duly justified reasons;










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during the first 4 years of service after taking up his or her duties as a probationary official, transfer within the same institution or agency and transfer to another institution or agency, if they involve a change of place of employment, are possible only in exceptional cases and for duly justified reasons.




Newly recruited officials must be able to enjoy an optimal integration into the work culture and environment of the place of employment and of the institution or agency, in such a way as to perform their duties there under the best conditions.
However, recruiting institutions or agencies invest resources in the induction, training and integration of new officials both within the institution or agency and at the place of employment. It is therefore necessary to ensure a degree of continuity and certainty in the filling of posts, by guaranteeing a minimum length of service for newly recruited officials both within the recruitment institution or agency and at their place of employment.
It should be noted that, in the case of a transfer, each individual case is subject to the approval of the original institution or agency and of the institution or agency to wish the official wishes to transfer.
XIII.   INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

This competition is being organised to fill a single post.
All correspondence relating to this recruitment procedure must be sent to the following email address only: candidatures.concours@curia.europa.eu. Under no circumstances should candidates approach the Selection Board, directly or indirectly, concerning the competition, failing which they will be excluded from the competition.
Approved on 8 June 2023.


(1)  An exception may be made for medical reasons on presentation of a medical certificate.

(2)  Details of the keyboards made available to candidates will be provided in the invitation to the written tests.