French Language Translator

Your Team

The European Court of Human Rightsis the judicial body which oversees the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in the member states of the Council of Europe. Complaints of human rights violations may be brought before the Strasbourg Court once all possibilities of appeal have been exhausted in the member state concerned. 

The team within which you will work, one of the two French Language Divisions of the Court's Language Department, performs various activities (language checking, translation, revision, linguistic assistance) in response to requests from judges or members of the Court's Registry. The French Language Divisions ensure the linguistic quality of French versions of documents produced by the Court (judgments or decisions, judges' opinions, press releases, case-law guides, manuals, internal communications etc.).

Your Role

As a French Language Translator, you will:

• translate, from English into French, documents of a primarily legal nature drafted by Judges of the Court and members of its Registry; 
• ensure the linguistic quality of legal documents drafted in French by non-native speakers (language checking);
• provide linguistic and terminological assistance; 
• contribute to testing and enhancing new translation and editing tools and exploiting their full potential; 
• keep all assignment-related information strictly confidential. 

Requirements to apply

Key competencies

• Operational - Planning and work organisation
• Operational - Drafting skills
• Operational - Concern for quality
• Interpersonal - Teamwork and co-operation
• Interpersonal - Communication

Desirable competencies

• Operational - Results orientation
• Operational - Learning and development
• Interpersonal - Service orientation

• Professional and technical expertise:
  • legal studies would be an asset;
  • good understanding of the legal terminology used in the Court's judgments and decisions.

What we offer

This job vacancy is for an international external recruitment. You can consult the conditions of employment (salaries, allowances, pension scheme, social insurance, etc.) on the webpage What we offer. 

Applications and selection procedure

For more information on how we recruit, you can consult the page Our recruitment process. This recruitment is carried out in accordance with Article 490 of the Council of Europe Staff Rules. The deadline for applications is indicated in the General information section of this vacancy notice (see above) and is fixed at 23:59:59 (CET/CEST). When applying, make sure your motivation shows how your competencies make your profile the best for the role.

Important information

As an equal opportunity employer, the Council of Europe welcomes applications from all suitably qualified people, irrespective of sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, disability, religion or belief. Under its equal opportunity policy, the Council of Europe is aiming to achieve gender parity in staff employed in each category and grade. At the time of appointment, preference between suitable people shall be given to the person of the gender which is under-represented in the relevant grades within the category to which the vacancy belongs.

Applicants with specific needs are encouraged to request reasonable accommodations at any stage during the recruitment process. Please contact us at [email protected], we will ensure that your request is handled.

The information published on the CoE’s careers website regarding working conditions is correct at the time of publication of the vacancy notice. Any changes to these conditions during the recruitment process will be updated on our Portal and will apply at the time of the job offer. Our career's website is not intended to be exhaustive and may not address all questions you would have. Should you have remaining questions, please contact us at [email protected].