Paralegal Officer

Job summary

As a Paralegal Officer, you’re on the frontline of our service, supporting prosecution teams in the magistrates’ and Crown Court. You manage casework throughout the criminal justice process – preparing evidence, completing legal applications and providing practical support to victims and witnesses. You also represent the Crown Prosecution Service in meetings with partner agencies including the police, probation service and judiciary.

You don’t need qualifications or legal experience to apply. Our structured training plan gives you the skills and knowledge you need to help us deliver justice. We’re committed to your professional development and support you with access to a progression and training opportunities throughout your career with us.

If you’re committed to public service, and want to make a difference in people’s lives, this opportunity is for you. Find out more about the role - Apply to become a paralegal officer , The Crown Prosecution Service (cps.gov.uk)

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 is no guarantee that this approval will be granted.

We do consider part-time working patterns. However this needs to be agreed by the hiring area and must be in line with business needs.

Job description

Your responsibilities are:

• to support Paralegal Assistants and legal teams to operate effectively and efficiently, so that tasks and case information is ready.
• to manage cases and ensure they are progressed, recording notes and drafting correspondences accurately.
• to research and assess the quality of case files, providing advice and making recommendations to prosecutors ahead of trial.
• to attend court as required by the Paralegal Business Manager, and provide support with cases in court. This includes assisting prosecutors, advocates and working with other criminal justice partners.
• to provide excellent customer service when dealing with enquiries received by your team, so that the public and stakeholders can have confidence in the work we do.

Click below to view a day in the life video of one of our Paralegal Officers.

Danielle, Paralegal Officer

Please note that the job description which accompanies this advert is not tailored to the specific role on the CPS Extradition Unit. Some of the tasks are unique to this unit.

Extradition

In the Extradition Unit, you assist to Specialist Prosecutors by preparing and maintaining export extradition casework in the magistrates’ court and on appeal at the High Court. You provide similar assistance for import extradition work, by preparing papers in support of an extradition request for fugitives abroad.

You primarily attend Westminster Magistrates’ Court and the High Court. You may also be required to attend courts both within London and at locations across England and Wales.

Person specification

To be eligible to apply, you need to:
• be 18 years old or over
• have working knowledge and experience of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the work of the Crown Prosecution Service and our role in the wider criminal justice system.

The start date is expected to be 8-12 weeks after the application deadline. For roles that require Security Check clearance, the start date may be 3-4 months.

These posts are availablewithin the following Crown Prosecution Service directorates and locations:

East of England - Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich or Norwich (3)

Extradition - London (10) - Security Check clearance required

Merseyside and Cheshire - Liverpool (Reserve list)

North East - Newcastle, Middlesborough (2)

North West - Carlisle, Preston or Manchester (6)

South East - Brighton, Canterbury or Guildford (Reserve list)

South West - Bristol, Exeter or Truro (Reserve list)

Thames and Chiltern - St Albans (Reserve list) or Reading (5)

Wessex - Portsmouth or Swindon (5) - Postholder may be required to travel to other court locations, including Salisbury, Southampton, Winchester and Bournemouth.

West Midlands - Birmingham or Stoke (10)

Yorkshire and Humberside - Leeds, Hull or Sheffield (10)

We ask you to confirm your preferred location and Crown Prosecution Service area. Offers are made in merit order in line with your location preference. It’s not guaranteed that we will be able to accommodate your location preference.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,700, Crown Prosecution Service contributes £8,893 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.

Why we work for the Crown Prosecution Service

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 recruitment process, let us know within your application or contact advocacyrecruitment@cps.gov.uk

The Crown Prosecution Service has fixed rates for this B1 grade – a developing rate (the starting salary) and a spot rate (the maximum salary). You typically join us on the developing rate and, after completing a 15-month development period, move to the spot rate if your line manager confirms you’re performing the role to a satisfactory standard.

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. There is an expectation that you 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. For this role, it will be subject to business needs if your role will be more office or court based. If court based, you must consider if the commute from your home to court is a feasible distance to travel before making an application. If you’re successful, we will discuss this before you take up the post.

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.

Recruitment process

The recruitment process consists of an online test, online application and interview through Microsoft Teams.

Here is a breakdown of the behaviours assessed throughout this selection process and the stages they are set to be assessed at:

• Working Together - lead behaviour - application and interview
• Communicating and Influencing - application and interview
• Managing a Quality Service - application only
• Making Effective Decisions - interview only

Online tests

Before submitting your application, you’re invited to complete an online Civil Service judgment test. You must successfully complete the test to progress to the next stage. Please complete the online test as soon as possible – we recommend within 24-48 hours. The closing date for the test is 11 September at 1pm.

If you don’t complete the test on time, your application will not progress any further.

We send you an invitation to take the test and provide full instructions about how to complete it.

For more guidance about the online Civil Service tests, please see the GOV.UK website: Civil Service online tests - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Online application

You’re asked to submit a personal statement section for your online application – in a total of no more than 1250 words – setting out how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience demonstrate each core behaviour for this role.

1. Working Together - lead behaviour - application and interview
2. Managing a Quality Service - application only
3. Communicating and Influencing - application only

In addition, you need to demonstrate the Crown Prosecution Service or Civil Service values.

The panel has the right to assess the lead behaviour ‘Working Together' 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. The panel may also refer to the lead behaviour at the interview stage to determine merit order.

Interview

The interviews are expected to take place between 5 and 16 October 2026.

Your interview takes place online through Microsoft Teams. A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with guidance. If you have any queries about this, contact advocacyrecruitment@cps.gov.uk

You should keep these dates free or notify us if you're not available. We'll make every effort to accommodate your date preferences, but we can't guarantee it.

At the interview stage, you book your own time slots on Civil Service Jobs. Once booked, we can’t guarantee your time slot can be changed.

We use behaviours to help us understand your experience, to see if you're a good fit for the role. You are assessed against B1/EO in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing 3 behaviours at interview stage

1. Working together - lead behaviour - application and interview
2. Communicating and Influencing - interview only
3. Making Effective Decisions - interview only

Strengths

Strengths are tested at interview stage - the strengths tested are not shared before the interview.

Information sessions

We are holding a series of information sessions – these are live webchats (not video) where you can ask us any queries you may have about your application, the process or the roles. You can register here:

• Wednesday 2 September, 1-2pm - https://meetandengage.com/amt182opq
• Wednesday 9 September, 1-2pm - https://meetandengage.com/amt187b5i

Making offers

You can choose up to three office location preferences. If you’re successful, we offer using your choices in the first instance.

If you’re invited to interview, your assessment and interview panel are based on your first preference. Offers are made based on the merit order of each CPS Area interviewed, for example Nottingham or Leicester is CPS East Midlands. This means the highest rated candidate is appointed from the region with the vacancy. Even if you’ve scored higher than another candidate, you may not be selected if you’ve a preference of another location.

Once appointments have been made under the location merit list process, any remaining candidates who have passed stay on a reserve list for 12 months. You may be offered an alternative role or location from the reserve list.

If you’re offered a position that you can’t accept because of extenuating circumstances, you may be able to stay on the reserve list. However, it expires 12 months after the interviews take place and positions for your first preference can never be guaranteed.

CV

You’re not required to upload your CV. However, when submitting your application there is a ‘CV section’. You are required to provide information about your employment history for the past three years. Your CV will not be assessed as part of this selection process.

It’s your responsibility to provide the specified information in the requested format to ensure that you're considered for the post.

If you're unable to cover three years through employment or academic history, you must provide a character reference for clearance purposes.

Clearance

If successful request a Disclosure and Barring Service check - you must have a current valid UK address for this.

If successfully appointed, we ask you to complete a character enquiry form and nationality and immigration questionnaire.

If you're a Crown Prosecution Service member of staff, you won’t need to do a Disclosure and Barring Service check as you already hold this clearance.

The job you’re applying for is covered by Article 3(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, consequently Section 4(2) of that Act doesn’t apply.You’re required to disclose all previous convictions and cautions including spent convictions. Failing to make a full declaration will result in withdrawing your offer of employment if our checks reveal convictions that haven’t been disclosed.

Extradition roles only: To be cleared to Security Check clearance level, you have to be able to meet the residency requirement in the Cabinet Office guidance. For the Crown Prosecution Service, they are three years within the last five years.

We are unable to offer visa sponsorship. If you require visa sponsorship to work in the UK, you will not meet the eligibility criteria for this role.

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 Paralegal Officer post in your directorate of choice, 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.

Feedback
We only provide feedback if you attend an interview or assessment.

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 Internal Fraud Database. We won't employ anyone included on the database unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.

We will inform you if you are refused employment because of your inclusion in the Internal Fraud Database.

Civil Service Commission

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 remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commission complaints page https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilservicerecruitmentcomplaints/

Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles can be found at

https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/

Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Candidates are subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website at https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.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.

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

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 : Advocacy recruitment team
• Email : advocacyrecruitment@cps.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : strategic.resourcing@cps.gov.uk

Attachments

NEW CPS Terms and Conditions 2024 Updated Opens in new window (docx, 253kB)NEW CPS Personal Statement Guidance 2023 Opens in new window (docx, 269kB)Civil Service Online Test Guidance (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 128kB)