About the job

Job summary

Please refer to job description

Job description

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Royal Courts of Justice

Job Title:  Criminal Appeal Caseworker (1 Post available), Criminal Appeal Office

Grade: Executive Officer (EO)

Number of Posts:  1

Length of Post: Permanent

Location of Post: Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Salary: London (within M25): £31,169- £32,760

Introduction

Based within the Central Building in the main Royal Courts of Justice estate, the Court of Appeal Criminal Division (CACD) is a busy court that deals with criminal appeals against decisions made in the Crown Court.  The Criminal Appeal Office (CAO) provides legal and administrative support to the CACD. The main appeal types are conviction and / or sentence. The CAO structure is split into two groups- Conviction and Sentence. Admin staff in Conviction casework provide support for the complex casework lawyers in progressing applications.  In Sentence casework cases are processed generally by admin staff, with checks made by lawyers on the lawfulness of the sentence. 

Please note: this job title covers a number of similar specialist casework roles in the sentence and conviction groups. The job holder may be required to line manage a team of Administrative Officers (AO) staff.

Key Purpose of the role:

• To prepare sentence or conviction and special jurisdiction appeal cases for the consideration of CACD judges in accordance with office targets, taking account of offenders’ earliest date of release and any other factors of urgency such as age, vulnerability and ill health.
• To provide pro-active case management and administrative support in relation to applications for permission to appeal to ensure that cases are managed both effectively and expeditiously. 
• To assist in the delivery of performance against targets.

Key responsibilities:

To prepare sentence or conviction and special jurisdiction appeal cases for the consideration of CACD judges in accordance with office targets and procedures. This will include but is not limited to the following:

In Sentence Group

• Checking for effective grounds of appeal, returning ineffective grounds and checking an accurate case record has been created on the office case management system.
• Personally determining the priority of each case (approximately 1,000 per year per caseworker) based upon factors including the age, health, earliest release date of the applicant and identifying whether to send the case to the Registrar of Criminal Appeals to consider a referral directly to the full Court of Appeal.
• Identifying, from the grounds of appeal, what documents and transcript will be required by the Single Judge when making a decision on leave to appeal; obtaining these documents from CJS partners, including confidential material.
• Checking Crown Court indictment, record sheet and transcripts for possible unlawful sentences and referring to CAO lawyers for legal advice.
• Preparing case papers for consideration by the Single Judge in accordance with the Criminal Appeal Act and Crim. Procedure Rules.

In Conviction Group

• Personally acting as casework support to HEO and lawyer case officers for own allocated caseload (approximately 200 complex cases per year per caseworker); implementing case directions given by senior judiciary or case officers and obtaining documents from CJS partners for the Single Judge and full Court of Appeal.

In both Sentence and Conviction Groups

• Management of a team of band E administrative staff, ensuring they meet office targets and accurately send / respond to letters, forms and documents sent to / received from applicants/appellants, legal representatives and CJS partners (please note that not all casework EO roles include staff management).
• Responsibility for dealing with correspondence and enquiries.
• Using the case management system, monitoring the progress of own caseload, liaising with CJS partners and resolving problems as required, adhering to strict targets for sending cases to the Single Judge and average waiting times; preparing cases for listing, including the production of digital court bundles.

Corporate operational responsibilities

• Contribute to the delivery of operational, performance and service standard targets.
• Provide statistical data for the management team and judiciary.
• Contribute to meeting the objectives set out in the business plan, with particular focus on the team's area of work.
• Monitor and proactively report on HMCTS operational controls.
• Ensure the risk management system and standards are applied by all staff in line with HMCTS/MOJ policy. Alert others, as appropriate, to risks which are not capable of local resolution.
• Deal with customers and complaints and address root causes of complaints.

Team leadership

• Assign responsibilities for action and monitoring progress against plans.
• Ensure that performance management and reward & recognition systems are utilised effectively throughout area of responsibility, ensuring consistent standards through benchmarking, and encouraging and rewarding good ideas and creativity.
• Identify staff potential and develop in line with business and individual needs.
• Be responsible for health and safety issues for the team and their immediate working environment.
• Take a lead in employee engagement activities to maintain good working relationships with staff and to improve service delivery and staff morale / motivation.
• Ensure staff are aware of HMCTS strategic objectices/and or updated in relation to corporate messages.
• Role model HMCTS values, and apply policies and procedures (including diversity, attendance and discipline).
• All Band D staff are expected to perform other management roles in addition to their own role.

Processing and managing casework

• Work with staff to ensure that casework is appropriately managed, providing advice where process deviations have occurred.

Calculations and analysis

• Identify and implement solutions to local problems, referring more complex problems to a Delivery Manager.

Communicating with the public, the judiciary, other court and tribunal users and representatives of other agencies and organisations

• Maintain effective working relationships with the judiciary, supporting agencies, voluntary and user groups. Working with agencies to improve the level of service offered to users.
• Provide feedback to staff, judiciary and other stakeholders on performance against targets.
• Think beyond own area of responsibility, considering wider policy and organisational implications of issues.
• Attend and contribute at meetings of relevant User Groups.

Representation

• Represent the function you have been assigned to at an operational level.

Specialisms

• Recent knowledge and experience of working in the Criminal Justice System, particularly in the Crown Court or Criminal Appeal Office is desirable but not essential.

Accountability

• Reporting to an HEO Delivery Manager.

Other duties

• The post holder is required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.

Essential Skills & Criteria:

• Team working
• Experience engaging with stakeholders / excellent customer service
• Good written and communication skills

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 each of the following Success Profile Behaviours (Level 2):

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

In the event we receive a large volume of applications, we will sift using the lead Success Profile Behaviour: Making Effective Decisions.

If selected for interview, you will be tested against the following Success Profile Behaviours (Level 2):

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Interviews will also test three Strengths.

Interviews for this campaign will be conducted in person at a central London location.

Further information on Success Profile Behaviours and Strengths, as well as the required standards for this post (Level 2), 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:

This role is not suitable for hybrid working.

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 and Equality policies.

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.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Person specification

Please refer to job description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £31,169, HM Courts and Tribunals Service contributes £8,446 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Strengths.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.