Specialist Prosecutor

Job summary

As a Specialist Prosecutor in the CPS high-performing and prestigious Extradition Unit, your role will involve sensitive, demanding and high-profile casework, representing foreign states’ interests in their requests to England and Wales for wanted persons, and preparing and submitting requests to foreign states for those wanted here.

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role. There’s no guarantee that we will grant this approval.

You must be aged 16 or over at the point of starting in this role. The expected start date is approximately 8–12 weeks after the application closing date. Candidates are expected to commence employment as soon as possible following the expiry of their notice period. Requests for significantly later start dates may not be accommodated.

Job description

Your roles and responsibilities:

• You review overseas requests to the UK received from our UK Central Authority (UKCA) for evidential sufficiency under Part 2 of the Extradition Act 2003.
• You prepare and provide advice to foreign states’ judicial authorities on the preparation and conduct of their requests.
• You prepare and manage appeals to the High Court.
• You work with counsel to bring the strongest cases to court, addressing deficiencies and pursuing excellence throughout lower court and appeal proceedings.
• You work with stakeholders in Policy, Home Office, National Crime Agency (NCA), HM Courts Service (HMCTS) and foreign states throughout proceedings.
• You review, prepare and submit requests, via the UKCA to foreign states, for persons wanted in England and Wales liaising with Area lawyers as needed.

A copy of the full job description is attached.

Person specification

To be eligible to apply, you need to:

• be a qualified practising solicitor or barrister holding a valid Practising Certificate for England and Wales.
• be a solicitor or barrister with at least five years post qualification experience.

Qualifications

Legally qualified: You must be a qualified solicitor or barrister able to obtain a valid Practising Certificate for England and Wales.

If you’re a CILEx lawyer, you must be a Fellow of CILEx and a CILEx Advocate/Litigator holding all three advocacy certificates providing you with a ‘general qualification’ within the meaning of s71(3)(c) Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. You must have a right of audience in relation to any class of proceedings in any part of the Senior Courts, or all proceedings in County Court or magistrates' courts, to meet the requirements for a Crown Prosecutor as specified by section 1 Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. If you don’t meet this definition, you’re not eligible to apply for this vacancy. If you’re unsure whether you have qualified through CILEx, contact us to establish your eligibility for this role.

Solicitors - You must hold a qualifying law degree or equivalent, have passed the Common Professional Examination or Graduate Diploma in Law and/or the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), have completed two years of qualifying work experience and be admitted to the roll of solicitors by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or have full exemption from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Barristers - You must hold a qualifying law degree (or Common Professional Examination or Graduate Diploma in Law), have completed the Bar Training/Practice Course (also known as the Bar Professional Training Course), been formally called to the Bar and successfully completed pupillage, or have full exemption from the Bar Standards Board.
We don’t accept equivalent qualifications. If you’re unsure about your eligibility contact [email removed].

You must be a fully qualified solicitor or barrister at the point of application. If successful, we must receive your practising certificate as soon as possible. We won’t be able to progress pre-employment checks until your practising certificate has been received, and a deadline for this may be set in line with business need. If you’re able to meet these requirements by this date, you’re eligible to apply.
If there are any restrictions or special arrangements about your practising certificate, let us know by email as soon as possible.
If we find you don’t have any of these academic and professional qualifications, we will withdraw your offer of employment or terminate your contract

Memberships

You must have a valid practising certificate for England and Wales or be eligible to obtain a valid practising certificate issued from either the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Bar Standards Board.

If CILEx qualified, you must hold a ‘general qualification’ within the meaning of s.71 (3) (c) Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

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

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,400, Crown Prosecution Service contributes £20,394 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Join the Crown Prosecution Service and find your purpose

The Crown Prosecution Service is 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.

This culture of inclusion is underpinned by our 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 are able to 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 range of benefits:

• Civil Service contributory pension of up to 28.9%
• 25 days’ leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years
• £350 each year to spend on personal development
• lawyer training programme for all new prosecutors
• an extra privilege day to mark the King's birthday
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• flexible working including flexitime, and a family friendly approach to work
• Cycle2Work scheme, employee savings.

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