Paralegal Assistant
Crown Prosecution Service
Apply before 11:55 pm on Friday 18th October 2024
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About the job
Job summary
Are you interested in developing a career with a real purpose? Join as a paralegal assistant with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in an integral supporting role.
In this role, you deliver customer service to internal and external stakeholders and casework support to the paralegal team. You build on your skills – including communication, quality checking and time management – to complete your work to a high standard and help achieve your team’s goals and objectives.
You must have the digital capabilities required to complete tasks that are part of the role.
Job description
Paralegal assistants provide vital administrative and casework support on the front line of our service. You work with the paralegal team to prepare cases for the magistrates’ and Crown Court – producing court documents, managing case files and briefing prosecutors. You liaise with criminal justice partners to ensure the smooth progression of cases, and provide practical support to victims and witnesses of crime.
Your work makes a positive difference to society and the communities we serve. We value your skills and support your professional growth with development opportunities throughout your career at the CPS.
Your roles and responsibilities are:
- Supporting legal teams to operate effectively and efficiently, ensuring they have all paperwork ready for the case.
- Providing administrative support, ensuring information is recorded accurately for the team working on the case.
- Carrying out team related tasks including preparing briefs, filing, drafting letters and court lists.
- Attending court as required, to provide support for paralegal officers and prosecutors.
- Providing excellent customer service when dealing with enquiries so that the public and stakeholders can have confidence in the work of the CPS.
Find out what the role is like - Meet our paralegal assistants (cps.gov.uk)
Our regional teams
The Crown Prosecution Service works across England and Wales, with 14 regional teams prosecuting cases locally in magistrates' and Crown Courts.
Each of these 14 regional teams are known as Crown Prosecution Service Areas – they are led by a chief crown prosecutor whose paralegal, casework and prosecution staff work closely with local police forces and other criminal justice partners to prepare and prosecute local cases.
Our central casework divisions
Central casework divisions in the Crown Prosecution Service deal with some of the most complex criminal cases we prosecute. Working closely with specialist investigators across the criminal justice system, these divisions prosecute offences including organised crime, fraud, terrorism, corporate manslaughter and economic crime on an international scale.
As a paralegal assistant, you’ll be based in either a regional team or a central casework division.
Please note, if your preferred location is Derby you will be contracted to Nottingham yet will be based within Derby crown court. Additional travel may also be required for roles based within London and York.
Person specification
To be eligible for this opportunity, you must:
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Have excellent written, verbal and digital communication skills - including knowledge of Microsoft 365 applications
- Have an interest in criminal law and public service.
You do not need qualifications or legal experience for this role, a structured induction training plan is provided.
If you’re currently doing an apprenticeship within the CPS and you’re successful in getting this role, you must complete your apprenticeship course if the role is relevant.
Successful candidates will be:
- Highly organised – showing aptitude to manage, prioritise and carry out multiple tasks to deadlines.
- Good communicators – able to liaise with a range of stakeholders across the Criminal Justice System, with varying needs.
- Detail orientated – able to update systems promptly and ensure cases are ready for court.
- Adaptable – the ability to adapt to changing situations in a short time frame to ensure effective delivery of services.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Motivation
- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
Information sessions
We are holding a series of information sessions – these are live webchats where you can ask us any queries you may have about your application, the process or the roles. You can register here:
- 26 September 12 – 1pm - https://meetandengage.com/am154xjf1
- 9 October 4:30 – 5:30pm - https://meetandengage.com/am154zwfl
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing
Benefits
We’re passionate about ensuring that we're a top performing organisation and a great place to work. We're a committed equal opportunities employer, creating a culture where you can bring your whole self to work, and individuality is truly appreciated.
We want to ensure our employees can thrive at work and home, and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment. We offer a hybrid working policy. From September 2024, you must spend at least 40% of your contracted hours over a four-week period at court, in an office or another official workplace depending on business need and the kind of work you're doing.
Our culture of inclusion is underpinned by staff networks covering disability, faith and belief, LGBTQI+, race, social mobility alongside our mental health first aiders programme and wellbeing sessions.
The Crown Prosecution Service commits to offer its employees the following experience.
- You can do impactful, purposeful work that’s making a difference to your local communities.
- You can learn and grow, with access to the right opportunities and resources.
- We care about your wellbeing.
- We want you to feel valued, trusted and included.
We also offer the following benefits:
- Civil Service contributory pension of up to 28.97%
- 25 days’ leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years
- an extra privilege day to mark the King's birthday
- a competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
- flexible working and a family-friendly approach to work
- Cycle2Work scheme, employee savings.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Recruitment process
The recruitment process consists of an online application, assessment and interview.
First stage - application
Submit your application through Civil Service Jobs by 11.55pm on Friday 18 October 2024.
When applying, you’re asked to provide some specific information about your motivation and skills, employment history, and qualification details in the application form.
You’re asked to respond to three questions in the personal statement section of your application form – in no more than 750 words overall – setting out how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience demonstrate each core behaviour for this role. These are:
- Motivation (lead behaviour) - Why would you like to join the Crown Prosecution Service as a paralegal assistant?
- Managing a quality service Can you explain when you have delivered a good quality service to an individual or a group of people?
- Communicating and influencing Can you describe a time when you have communicated an important message to someone face to face?
You must address each of these questions when providing your core behaviour examples on the personal statement section. If you don’t do this, your application will be turned down.
Please note, the panel has the right to assess the lead behaviour 'Motivation’ first. If the standard on this behaviour isn’t met, the other behaviours won’t be considered and your application won’t progress. The panel also has the right to raise the minimum standard pass mark.
Applications are shortlisted following the deadline, and the successful candidates are invited to interview.
Second date - Assessment and interview
If you pass the first recruitment stage, you’re invited to an assessment and interview with a panel of Crown Prosecution Service colleagues.
Full guidance and instructions are provided about this stage of the process at the time. Assessments and Interviews take place using Microsoft Teams between 18 and 19 November 2024.
We ask that you note the dates that the interview and assessments are due to take place. However, these dates may be subject to change and we can’t guarantee alternative interview dates.
Strengths are tested at interview stage and the strengths that are being tested are not shared in advance of the interview
Offer of employment
If we offer you a role, offers and pre-employment checks begin from Monday 2 December 2024. It can take up to two weeks for all offers to be made.
Other
This is a full-time role and you must attend court each day. Requests for flexible, part-time working and job share are considered, bearing in mind the operational needs of the department. The Crown Prosecution Service is a disability confident employer, and we are committed to making reasonable adjustments to support daily attendance at court.
You must consider if the commute from your home to the court is a feasible distance to travel before making an application.
Clearance
If successful, you are required to secure Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance and some areas of the business require you to have Security Check clearance. The clearance you need is confirmed when you’re offered the role.
If you are invited to interview, you are asked to complete the character enquiry form and nationality and immigration questionnaire.
If you are an internal member of staff, you won’t need to do a DBS check as you already hold this clearance.
Reserve list
If you’re recommended by the selection panel but not appointed to the current vacancy, you’re put on a reserve list for 12 months. You may be offered another role if a vacancy comes up during this period. We may also approach candidates on the reserve list to fill other roles that require similar knowledge and experience.
Fraud check
The Crown Prosecution Service provides a Fair Processing Notice to all new applicants after they’ve been successful at interview. These candidates are informed that, as one aspect of pre-employment screening, their personal details – name, National Insurance number and date of birth – are checked against the Insiders Threat Database. We won't employ anyone included on the database unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.
Reasonable Adjustments
Diversity at the Crown Prosecution Service is about inclusion, embracing differences and ensuring our workforce truly reflects the communities we serve. We want you to feel that you belong and can thrive, whatever your background, identity or culture. As a Disability Confident employer, we're happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments and improve your recruitment experience. If you'd like any reasonable adjustments made to our recruitment process, let us know within your application or contact EarlyCareers@cps.gov.uk.
Civil Service Commissioners
If you’re dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact strategic.resourcing@cps.gov.uk with your concerns. If you're still dissatisfied, you can make a further complaint through the Civil Service Commission complaints page.
Civil Service Commissioners recruitment principles can be found here –
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/
Details of the Civil Service nationality rules are located at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Early Careers
- Email : Earlycareers@cps.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : Earlycareers@cps.gov.uk
