ARMY – Court Administrative Unit Assistant 1 Full Time

Job Summary

Are you a positive standout colleague with drive and passion to get things done? The Military Court Service (MCS) is what you are looking for!

The post-holder will work within the Court Administration Unit (CAU) to provide administrative support primarily within the Board selection and Court Martial Reporting Services areas of business. The post-holder will be involved with the preparation of specifying Service and civilian Boards for Courts Martial and Summary Appeal Courts; preparation for the provision of Pre-Sentence Reports (PSRs) for offenders awaiting sentence; preparation for the provision of custody applications, arrest warrants, search warrants and production order applications that require hearings to be conducted with a Judge Advocate. Due to the nature of the role, you must be comfortable with multi-tasking within a lively and dynamic environment where there can be ambitious timelines.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job Description

As one of two Court Administration Unit (CAU) assistants located at Bulford Court Centre, you will be working under the guidance of two EO’s within the CAU to deliver the following:

Board Specification:

• On receipt of Board member nominations, check eligibility and personal details on JPA for accuracy.
• To assist with the deconfliction process of Board members prior to specification, forwarding questionnaires to EO Boards/Board selection panel and distribute late name changes.
• Distribute Board member packs, collate and monitor replies by specified due dates and undertake follow-up action where necessary.
• Distribute letters to the reserve Board members.
• Maintain and update MCS databases to record specified and reserve Board members, update database with statistical information.

Provision Of Pre-Sentence Reports (PSR):

• On receipt of a PSR request, issue appointment letter to the defendant’s discipline branch and request completion and submission of supporting documentation.
• In liaison with stakeholders, obtain legal documentation and reports for inclusion within the case file for onward submission to the Probation Officer together with updated Prosecution papers, in advance of the offender’s PSR interview appointment.
• Ensure PSRs are received and disseminated in advance of sentencing hearing and complete draft Court orders as indicated within the report.
• Notify the Probation Officer and Probation admin. Team, with the outcome on the day of sentencing hearing.
• Where a period of detention or imprisonment is awarded, provide a copy of the PSR to the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) on the day of the sentencing hearing.
• Update CMRS databases on a daily basis. Databases are used to track the progress of PSR requests, record outcomes, provide statistics on PSR usage and Probation invoices.

Custody Applications, Warrants And Production Orders:

• To assist with the administration of applications for custody, warrant and production order hearings; this includes liaison with judiciary, Service Courts, Units, Service Police and Counsel to allocate hearing appointments; create MS Teams links for participating parties; complete draft orders and forward with the completed applications to the Judge Advocate in advance of the hearing.
• Disseminate copies of legal documentation to applicants and, where applicable, Service Police, on completion of hearing.
• Update databases with details of the application and outcome of hearing.

Custody Applications, Warrants And Production Orders:

• To assist with the administration of applications for custody, warrant and production order hearings; this includes liaison with judiciary, Service Courts, Units, Service Police and Counsel to allocate hearing appointments; create MS Teams links for participating parties; complete draft orders and forward with the completed applications to the Judge Advocate in advance of the hearing.
• Disseminate copies of legal documentation to applicants and, where applicable, Service Police, on completion of hearing.
• Update databases with details of the application and outcome of hearing.

Person specification

The job entails dealing with important legal documentation and personal details, which demand attention to detail and accuracy. Complete impartiality and discretion are essential when handling information and in all dealings with parties. The post-holder must be able to deal with changing priorities and be flexible within their work to meet deadlines. The post-holder must have the presence, credibility, and personality to be able to deal authoritatively with the chain of command and civilian organisations in making the necessary arrangements for court administration.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

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

• Making Effective Decisions

Alongside your salary of £27,866, Ministry of Defence contributes £8,072 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability. (250 Word count)

At sift, you will be assessed against CV, Personal statement and the following:

• Making Effective Decisions

At Interview, You Will Be Assessed Against The Following:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Interviews will be held in person at the Military Court Centre in Bulford. A minimum of two full working days’ notice will be provided for candidates.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Security

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact :

• Name : Denise Love
• Email : denise.love631@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-ResourcingTeam3@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: info@csc.gov.uk.