Paralegal (Community)

Job Description

Title: Paralegal (Community)

Company Name: Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST)

Vacancy: 6

Age: At most 40 years

Job Location: Narsingdi

Salary: Tk. 26968 (Monthly)

Experience:

• At least 2 years
• The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): NGO, Development Agency
• Freshers are also encouraged to apply.

• Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) in any discipline.

• At least 2 years
• The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): NGO, Development Agency
• Freshers are also encouraged to apply.

• Age At most 40 years

• At least 2 years of working experience in the relevant field.

• Familiarity with community work will be an advantage.

• Good mobilizer, Self-starter, proactive, team player.

• Knowledgeable in computer operations, particularly in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as email communication.

• Freshers are encouraged to apply.

• Women are encouraged to apply.

Job Context: BLAST is one of the leading legal services organizations in Bangladesh and the only one that provides access to legal aid across the spectrum, from the frontlines of the formal justice system to the apex court. It prioritizes support to women, men, and children living in poverty or facing disadvantage or discrimination. It also provides legal aid, advice, and representation across a range of areas, including civil, criminal, family, labour, and land law, as well as on constitutional rights and remedies, providing access to judicial remedies alongside alternative dispute resolution wherever appropriate. Alongside individual legal aid, BLAST undertakes strategic litigation, or public interest litigation, as a key part of its advocacy for law and policy reforms to ensure effective legal protection of rights. Currently operating in 23 districts across the country, BLAST works through its staff lawyers (and paralegals) at headquarters and in each district office/unit office, in collaboration with its enlisted panel of about 2600 lawyers across the country who provide legal redress to clients on a pro bono basis, with a nominal honorarium.

Position Description: It is an entry-level position based at the Narsingdi District Project Office. The Paralegal (Community) will be responsible for providing support to team members and community actors to implement planned activities by the organization to achieve the intended results related to the Access to Justice for Women project.      

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Identify and select a specific number of Restorative Justice Facilitators (RJFs) and Community Volunteers (CVs) from the respective ward of Narshindi city (municipality). 

• Organise and provide support to develop the capacity of RJFs, CVs, and local-level actors through training, orientation, and mentoring.

• Establish Restorative Justice (RJ) mechanisms at the community (city ward) level through RJ facilitators with support of CVs.

• Guide and assist RJ facilitators to screen the disputes, select the compoundable cases, and facilitate RJ meetings by RJ facilitators following RJ principles and steps; provide feedback to RJ facilitators and follow up on agreements made in the RJ meeting.

• Guide and assist RJ facilitators and community volunteers to refer non-compoundable and compoundable but complex cases to respective institutions, including the District legal aid office; Maintain liaison with city-level local actors and institutions to create scope for referral.

• Organise monthly & bi-monthly coordination meetings among RJFs and CVs, as well as quarterly mixed group meetings between RJFs & CVs to formulate a monthly plan and implement the plan.

• Organize community-based legal aid camps, courtyard meetings, day observance events, and other activities at the city ward level.

• Prepare a monthly ward-based work plan with specific targets and present at the coordination meeting with progress.

• Provide support to the District Project Officer (DPO)-community and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (MEO) as required.

• Participate in monthly coordination meetings, other meetings with management, different stakeholders, GIZ, etc.

• Participate in different training, workshops, and events organized by BLAST, GIZ, and respective institutions of government.

• Fill up a different format for the result tracking objectively.

• Perform additional tasks as and when assigned by the management and the project.

• T/A,Mobile bill,Tour allowance,Weekly 2 holidays
• Salary Review: Yearly
• Festival Bonus: 2

• Costs of any field work will be borne by the organization.