Kalisher Intern

Criminal Cases Review Commission

United Kingdom

Remote

Expires: Expiring in 3 days

Legal

Flexible

£25,582 per year

Job summary

Interns provide support to our Casework, Legal and Investigations teams. The role is challenging and varied. One day you might be carrying out legal research on a developing area of law, another you might be examining material and compiling a summary or chronology, assisting in an interview with an applicant or witness, or involved in our interactions with experts from a range of forensic and scientific disciplines. You will certainly be responsible for answering queries from potential applicants and for preparing our monthly legal update and you will be expected to carry out an independent research project to support the work of the CCRC.

In return, we offer you a unique and independent perspective on the criminal justice system and criminal cases.

You will have the opportunity to see a case from all sides: we have unique legal powers to obtain material from the police, the prosecution, the courts and the defence, as well as records from prisons, the NHS and local authorities.

We will provide the latest IT to enable you to stay connected to and learn from your fellow Interns and from the diverse experience of all our staff who have backgrounds in law, policing, forensic science, trading standards, journalism, and regulatory work.

Our Internships are supported by the Kalisher Trust who aim to transform lives by encouraging and inspiring young people of ability, commitment, and ambition to achieve their potential and develop a career at the criminal bar. Most of our interns who seek pupillage go on to secure it. You will need to show, therefore, that you have exceptional promise as a criminal advocate and that you are of modest financial means. You will recently have completed the bar course and have a passion for criminal law and fairness.

Job description

Role Purpose
The role of the Intern is two part - firstly to provide casework assistance to Case Review Managers and to the Investigations and Legal teams. The second part will be to complete a research project agreed at the outset of the internship.

Key Responsibilities & Tasks
The Intern reports to the Senior Lawyer and provides casework assistance in response to requests. Interns will have the opportunity to develop skills. The key tasks may include:

Under supervision, investigating lines of enquiry, assimilating and evaluating potentially extensive and complex material and information relevant to the case, re-evaluating as necessary during the course of the review
Preparing summaries and chronologies
Assisting the Case Review Manager (CRM) in drafting Statements of Reasons
Assisting CRMs and/or the Investigations team to interview and take statements from applicants, witnesses and other relevant parties
Undertaking a research project based on the work of the CCRC. The project scope, plan and output will be agreed at the outset of the internship
Undertaking legal and other research
Assisting the CCRC’s Legal team with judicial review work and legal updates
Assisting with casework administration including corresponding with and providing assistance in writing to potential applicants and dealing appropriately with telephone calls when covering the main switchboard

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

Lead: You will have completed the bar course in either 2025 or 2026 (and have received all results by 31st August 2026)
A good understanding of the legal framework of the CCRC and the legal restrictions and powers granted to it
Strong oral and written communication skills, reflecting the need to communicate effectively with applicants and potential applicants, their representatives, and other stakeholders.
Ability to manage a challenging portfolio of work including varied tasks with competing deadlines and conflicting priorities
Competency in the use of up-to-date IT equipment and packages
Ability to operate effectively in a remote working environment.
Commitment to the development of your own knowledge and skills.
The ability to act on your own initiative within the boundaries of the CCRC’s case procedures and agreed tasks.

Kalisher Criteria:

Intellectual ability - demonstrated by academic performance, past work, activities and other experience.
Motivation to succeed at the Criminal Bar - including steps taken to acquire the personal skills required of a Barrister, and a demonstration of the will to succeed.
Potential as an advocate - both in oral and written skills.
Personal qualities - including self-reliance, independence, integrity, reliability and humanity.
Financial need - information demonstrating financial need.

Please refer to the candidate information pack which contains full details.

Qualifications

You will have completed the bar course in either 2025 or 2026 (and have received your results by 31st August 2026)”.

Behaviours

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

Making Effective Decisions
Communicating and Influencing
Delivering at Pace
Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £25,582, Criminal Cases Review Commission contributes £7,411 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).

We offer a wide range of benefits, including flexible working options. You can also look forward to:

A Civil Service pension - this will see us making a significant contribution to your pension fund
29 days' annual leave allowance (pro rata), in addition to eight statutory bank holidays and special leave allowance for your birthday
Generous paid maternity, paternity and shared parental leave (SPL) which is in excess of the statutory minimum
We have flexible working patterns, including access to a flexible working scheme
We also operate a flexi time system which means you can build up to two additional days off per month
Remote working (anywhere in the UK) - we will supply a laptop and any equipment you don't already have so you can work from home comfortably and safely
Reimbursement for any travel, subsistence, and expenses
3 paid volunteering days per year
Access to retail discounts and a cashback site
Occupational Health Services and an Employee Assistance Programme
Free eye tests and a contribution towards lenses or spectacles for VDU users

To find out more and apply, please visit our website.

Things you need to know

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, Strengths and Experience.

Selection process timeline:

Applications should be submitted via our careers site by no later than 23:55 on 1 September 2026.

When you complete your online application, you will be asked to provide:

Step One - Application form:

Details of your employment history, qualifications, any professional memberships, availability and our equal opportunities monitoring questions. You will also be asked some questions about our essential requirements for the role.

After submitting your application form, if you meet the essential requirements for the role, you will then be asked for the following:

Step Two – Evidence Questions:

You will receive an email with a link to provide us with evidence that you have completed the bar course in either 2025 or 2026 (and have received all your results by 31 August 2026). Along with evidence of how you met the Kalisher Criteria listed in the Person Specification, and an essay of no more than 1,000 words on “the Impact of the Criminal Cases Review Commission on public confidence in the Criminal Justice System”. You will need to submit your responses to the criteria questions before the closing date of the vacancy.

Shortlisting

Shortlisting is expected to be completed by 7 September 2026 and all shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome shortly afterwards.

Case Study Exercise & Interview

Candidates who are shortlisted will be invited to complete a 60-minute timed written exercise, where you will be asked to prepare written recommendations for an example case. Further information will be provided to shortlisted candidates.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a panel interview the week commencing 21 September 2026 (Subject to confirmation) via Microsoft Teams focused on Civil Service Success Profiles Behaviours and Strengths.

One of our HR colleagues will be on hand to answer any queries you may have throughout the process.

Please note, the above dates are subject to change. It may not be possible to accommodate alternative requests for assessment and interviews. Please refer to candidate pack for the indicative timeline.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, do contact the HR team in the first instance.

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

Security

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

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

Apply and further information

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 : CCRC HR Team
Email : hr@ccrc.gov.uk

Salary range

£25,582 per year