91289 - Senior Caseworker - London
Background
Based within the Queens Building in the main Royal Courts of Justice estate, this is a busy court that deals with both complex and sensitive family and medical matters including Forced Marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, Public and Private Law cases, High Value Financial Remedy, Child Abduction, Court of Protection matters and appeals.The President is the head of the Family Division and sits alongside 20 High Court Judges who sit both at the Royal Courts of Justice and on Circuit outside of London.
Due to the time sensitive nature of the work that is heard within the Court, we often sit Courts throughout the traditional vacation period.The increasing volume of appeal work in High Court Family has opened an opportunity for a senior caseworker to lead the work of the appeals team and oversee the provision of high-quality casework to the judiciary.
Role Purpose
This is an exciting new opportunity for a senior caseworker to work within the High Court Family Division appeals team, to provide pro-active case management in relation to applications for permission to appeal to ensure that cases are managed both effectively and expeditiously.
The post holder will work closely with the appeals team, lawyers and judges and will need to demonstrate a high level of initiative. The ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at a senior level and with court users, including litigants in person, is essential.
Senior caseworkers are expected to act as role models and undertake leadership functions, which may include line management of small team.
Main Activities / Key Responsibilities- To promote and practise proactive case management to ensure that appeal cases are progressed in accordance with the Family Procedure Rules with a view to minimising delay.
- To check the quality and contentof applications lodged by parties and in particular to: assess urgency; identify any jurisdictional issues (seeking advice from lawyers or others where necessary); ensure the documents /information necessary for the effective disposal of the application are obtained from the parties; ensure compliance with judicial directions.
- To prepare cases for hearing
- To oversee the appeal caseload and monitor trends, identifying opportunities to improve process and procedures, including use of CE file.
- To update guidance and templates as necessary.
- To liaise with the lower courts and the Court of Appeal as necessary to facilitate effective working.
- To support the appeals team with more complex queries and provide training as necessary to ensure that routine enquiries are not passed to lawyers or judges.
- As this is a new post, a degree of flexibility will be required and the post holder must be prepared to undertake further duties as identified by line management.
The post holder will report to the Operations Manager.
Security Level:
This role requires vetting to Counter-Terrorism Check (CTC) level. For this you will need to confirm your employment and residence history for at least 3 years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken.If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of 6 months in the past 3 years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why.
If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:- You've been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
- You were studying abroad
- You were living overseas with parents
- In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be taken into account and a local police check carried out.
Application Process:
To apply for this position please complete the online application form, ensuring you provide the following:
A 250-word suitability statement against the following Success
Profile Behaviours (Level 3):- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating & Influencing
- Managing a quality service.
If selected for interview, the above Success Profile Behaviours will be tested / assessed (Level 3). Interviews will also test 4 Strengths.
Further information on Success Profile Behaviours and Strengths, as well as the required standards for this post (Level 3), 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.
Terms & Conditions:
Working Hours / Pattern:
These operational roles are customer facing, requiring successful applicants to be office based to provide HMCTS services to the public. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. HMCTS welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and are agreed prior to appointment.All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be treated fairly and, on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working 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.