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UNDP Montenegro, through its Rule of Law and Human Rights Programme, has been providing policy, expert and technical support to the Ministry of Justice in its efforts to attain a balance of power at the top of the political pyramid by means of strengthening the capacities of the judicial branch of power since 2004 until now.
In line with this objective, UNDP assisted the Ministry of Justice in drafting the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the reform of judiciary (2007-2012), both of which aim to bring Montenegro’s legal system into compliance with the set criteria for the EU membership. These strategic documents contain a five-year reform plan related to the Ministry of Justice, courts, public prosecutor’s offices, Judicial Council, Prosecutorial Council, Judicial Training Center, Institution for Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions, misdemeanor bodies, Agent of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights, notaries, mediators, Center for Mediation and private practice of law.

The Strategy has defined four main areas of intervention and these are: 1. Independence and autonomy of the judiciary, 2. Efficiency of the judiciary, 3. Access to justice and 4. Raising of public trust in the judiciary. In order to achieve these goals, UNDP assisted the Government in drafting the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the reform of judiciary that lists 292 specific goals, measures for their implementation and indicators of success. After the official adoption of the Action Plan, the Government issued a Decision on the establishment of a Commission tasked with the monitoring of the Action Plan’s implementation. Up to now, the Government adopted three of the Commission's annual reports for 2009, 2010 and 2011. These reports provide an overview of measures per strategic goals that have been realized, partly realized and that were not completed, which may be used as a basis for further efforts that are to be invested in the realization of the planned reforms. The areas for which the reform has been closely monitored are the following: autonomy, efficiency and accessibility of judiciary, fight against organized crime, international cooperation, prison system and judicial information system.
Given that the outlined period for the implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan until the end of 2012 draws to its end, the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro intends to draft a new Strategy and Action plan for the reform of judiciary (2013-2018), which will be the roadmap for all reforms in the rule of law area in the forthcoming five years.
UNDP Rule of Law and Human Rights Programme has been implementing the project Strengthening the Capacities of the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro since 2009, in order to assist the Ministry in facilitating the rule of law reform process in Montenegro and fulfilling the role of a leader in formulation of the  strategic policy in this field. By providing capacity building support to the Ministry of Justice, the purpose of the project is to contribute to the achievement of an efficient, effective and transparent system which is able to implement its challenging mandate.

The project is primarily designed to support the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro. Given the fundamental importance of the Ministry to uphold the rule of law and sustain the foreseen increase in the legislative burden, while Montenegro continues on its path of the EU integration process investing all the efforts in addressing requirements set by the recently opened negotiations with the EU, the indirect beneficiaries of the project will include all Montenegrin citizens.
In the aim of fulfilling the above mentioned objectives, UNDP Montenegro intends to engage two International Consultants to assist the Ministry of Justice in drafting of the new Strategy for the reform of judiciary in Montenegro (2013-2018), in the scope of the project Strengthening the Capacities of the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro.

Under direct supervision of the Programme Manager of UNDP Rule of Law and Human Rights Programme, two International Consultants will be in charge of assisting the Working group of the Ministry of Justice in drafting of the new Strategy for the reform of judiciary in Montenegro (2013-2018). The Consultants will work closely with the Deputy Minister of Justice in charge of judiciary and the members of the Working group of the Ministry in the course of twenty working days, out of which five days will be spent in Podgorica, Montenegro.

The Consultants will be performing the following tasks:

• On the basis of the adopted Reports on the implementation of the Action plan for the reform of judiciary (2007-2012), provide an overview of the current situation in the Montenegrin judiciary, based on which the priority areas for reform in the forthcoming five years will be determined and incorporated in the new Strategy for the reform of judiciary in Montenegro (2013-2018);
• Based on the EC Progress Reports for Montenegro so far and Screening report to be issued in September 2012, conduct an analysis of the strategic priorities in the area of judiciary in the aim of addressing the set requirements; 
  Devise new measures in order to respond to the newly emerged needs and challenges in the area of the rule of law reform, originating from the recent EC’s decision on opening negotiations with Montenegro and Screening report prepared by the EC after bilateral meetings with national representatives during the screening process;
• Compare the identified strategic priorities to be incorporated in the new Strategy for the reform of judiciary in Montenegro (2013-2018) with other relevant documents in the area of the rule of law reform, such as e.g. the Strategy for the fight against corruption and organized crime, in terms of harmonizing the measures, avoiding overlapping and making them congruent and consistent.

The objectives of the assessment are as follows:

• To define the main strategic areas and priorities for the reform of judiciary in the forthcoming five-year period (2013-2018);
• The project will produce a new Strategy for the reform of judiciary in Montenegro (2013-2018), based on which the Action plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the reform of judiciary in Montenegro (2013-2018) will be created. These two documents will serve as a roadmap for all reforms in the rule of law area in the forthcoming five years.

Timing and reporting: The engagement of the two International Consultants will last for twenty (20) working days, out of which they will spend five (5) days in Montenegro, during which they will actively work on the necessary analyses and cooperate closely with the members of the Working group of the Ministry of Justice in drafting of the new Strategy for the reform of judiciary in Montenegro (2013-2018). The tentative date for the assignment is September 2012.

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Ability to collect and analyze data from a quantitative and qualitative perspective;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback and different points of view;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
  

• University degree in law, political or social sciences;
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience;
• Extensive knowledge of the rule of law reform process in Montenegro;
• Knowledge of the current Montenegrin governing institutions and practices and demonstrated capacity to approach them creatively and promote change;
• Extensive knowledge of the UN, EU and CoE standards;
• Experience in judiciary service reforms and/or donor-funded project management;
• Excellent information technology skills, including word’s processing, database applications, presentation software, and Internet;
• Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English language; knowledge of Montenegrin language would be an asset.

Application Process:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications to UNDP Office in Podgorica by e-mail to consultancy.me@undp.org  by Thursday, August 9th, 2012.

The application should contain:

1. Duly completed Personal History Form (P11) can be downloaded from
http://www.undp.org.me/files/jobs/index.html

2. Cover/Motivation Letter

The short-listed candidates only would be requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work and travel (1 visit, up to 5 overnights) envisaged in the section "Duties and Responsibilities".

UNDP is an equal opportunity employer.

********** Procurement note re this vacancy can be found on: http://www.undp.org.me/files/jobs/2012/12-054%20notice.pdf .