About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

Royal Courts of Justice

Job Title/ Group / Directorate: Senior Caseworker , High Court Family Division, Royal Courts of Justice Group

Grade: HEO 

Duration: Permanent 

Salary: London (within M25): £37,174 - £40,403

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

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 content of 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 and 
•    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.  

In the event we receive a large volume of applications, we will sift using the lead Success Profile Behaviour: Delivering at Pace

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.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,174, HM Courts and Tribunals Service contributes £10,074 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.