UNDP Jobs - 45696- Consultant to Establish Legal Aid Clinic Pilots

Consultant to Establish Legal Aid Clinic Pilots

Location :

Dili, Timor Leste

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-May-2014

Application Deadline :

27-Apr-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

197 Days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

197 Days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The Justice System Programme (JSP) in Timor-Leste is a comprehensive support programme for the justice sector, steered by the Council of Coordination (CoC) which comprises the Minister of Justice, the President of the Superior Council of Judges, the Prosecutor General and the Public Defender. The main aims of the JSP are to strengthen access to justice and improve the administration of justice for the people of Timor-Leste. In line with the Justice Sector Strategic Plan, UNDP has, in its new 5-year plan, a target to support increased access to justice through free legal advice services. While the primary responsibility for legal advice to the poor remains the responsibility of the PDO, the current numbers and presence in only four district offices restricts severely the availability of legal aid to most of the population. Additionally, the barriers to access to justice in Timor-Leste begin with the lack of knowledge of legal rights and the justice system. This particularly impacts on women who suffer high levels of SGBV, and poor social support to challenge violence within intimate relationships.

The Minister of Justice has promoted legal aid clinics as a means to supplement the PDO and increase access to justice. JSP agreed to support piloting of such clinics in 2014, to assess the best model for Timor-Leste, identify challenges and solutions with a view to presenting a successful model which can be scaled-up in 2015 to other districts and eventually be funded by GoTL.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Ministry of Justice proposes using law graduates to provide legal clinics and advice, based in district Land offices. An international consultant is required to design and implement the legal aid clinic pilot in coordination with the Ministry of Justice.

The details of the clinic staffing, recruitment management and activities will be developed by an expert consultant with experience of legal aid programmes. The consultant will be required to prepare a concept paper which provides a comparative overview of the options in the Timor-Leste context. He/she will then be required to develop proposals on the design of the legal aid clinic pilots that would include description of services to be offered and the staffing/resource requirements and a detailed implementation plan of how the clinics will be established. The plan should include consideration of risks, and integration of legal aid staffs within local communities and traditional justice systems.

The Consultant will be working in consultation with national stakeholders to establish and oversee the pilots. He/she responsible for presenting options for these clinics appropriate to the Timor-Leste context (with a focus on comparative experiences of similar clinic models . The Minister of Justice has identified the legal id clinics system established by the Ministry of Justice in Mozambique as providing a positive blueprint for Timor-Leste, hence the paper should provide detailed description and analysis of that approach. The consultant will be developing the training plan and curriculum using existing trainers at the Legal Training Centre, establishing ToRs for the staff of the clinics and recruiting them from law faculties. Once the clinics are established in the pilot districts, the consultant will need to ensure there are measures for quality assurance, management of the national legal aid clinic officers, and methods for reporting on progress and results.

The pilots should comprise of three or four legal access programmes in different districts of Suai judicial district. The pilots should cover a mixture of rural/urban communities and test different approaches including supporting key people within rural communities to understand referral mechanisms and basic rights, and represent their communities to the formal justice system. The pilots should run for 4 – 5 months and at the end, UNDP will assess the effectiveness and perception of users and of advisers and provide feedback to the Ministry and recommendations for future development.

The consultant will be located in Dili for part of the time, and will be required to spend some weeks in the pilot districts to help establish and oversee the clinics. The Consultant will report to the CTA of the Programme and the Ministry of Justice, and consult closely with the Public Defender General.

The scope of work of the International Consultant:

Undertake a desk review of similar projects in Mozambique and other countries, and make a presentation to the Minister of Justice regarding the lessons learned relevant to Timor-Leste and option for legal aid pilot clinics.
Work closely with the PDO and other stakeholders to establish the roles and responsibilities of the legal aid clinic staff;
Develop a curriculum, using existing trainers at the Legal Training Centre and other national trainers.
Develop job descriptions for Clinic staff;
Design monitoring, reporting, evaluation and oversight mechanisms for the pilot clinics, ensure that necessary support for clinics, including technical, logistical and administrative support, is provided;
Work with M&E adviser to establish baselines, and M&E framework for the clinics;
Recruit and oversee training of clinic staff, assessing suitability and motivation;
Prepare Standard Operating Procedures and guidelines for the clinics;
Establish informal local working group with all relevant counterparts (judges, prosecutors, public defenders, Suco chiefs, District Administrators etc.) to ensure they are aware of the new clinics and how they can be deployed;
Establish materials and techniques for the clinics to ensure outreach and community education on rights.
Establish local referral mechanisms with the formal and informal sectors;
Oversee and quality assure the service provided at each clinic and ensure that ongoing training is provided as needed;
Provide routine updates on service delivery standards of clinics, noting technical, logistical, coordination, and capacity building support required;
Work closely with the Ministry of Justice, the Public Defenders’ Office and JSP (in devising and carrying out activities.
Report regularly, provide inputs to JSP publications, and assist in the preparation of JSP quarterly and annual reports;
Oversee training and ensure evaluation of the trainees and other records are kept;
Conduct any other related activities as required.

Expected Outputs and Timeline (in working days)

After detailed review of options, field visits and consultation with stakeholders, prepare detailed concept note for approval by Minister of Justice and propose suitable locations for clinics to be held (20 days);
Prepare Job descriptions and undertake recruitment of upto eight legal aid clinic staff (‘paralegals’) with clear description of roles and responsibilities. (15 days);
Develop training materials and curricula for 12 – 15 week training of paralegals in consultation with trainers at the Legal Training Centre and Ministry of Justice. (20 days)
Oversee training, ensure clinic premises suitably established, develop outreach and communication programme in local communities in districts where paralegals will be located, and develop coordination and referral mechanisms with service providers in district. (60 days);
Clinic services established with trained paralegals, and clinic services in districts supervised for quality assurance at least once a week for each clinic. Working methods revised as necessary, and ongoing training/capacity development provided. Data relating to use of clinic services analysed and reports prepared relating to each clinic on weekly basis. (67 days);
Final report prepared analyzing lessons learned and recommending future development for national ‘scaling –up’ of project, and revisions to, recruitment, curricula etc. (15 days).

For more details, please see IC Notice & ToR at following link:

http://www.tl.undp.org/content/dam/timorleste/docs/Procurament/IC%20Notice%20%26%20ToR.pdf

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Very good interpersonal skills;
Able to multi-task and meet deadlines;
Able to innovate and work under pressure;
Good communication skills at all levels;
Good organizational skills;
Strong cultural sensitivity and ability to work in multi-cultural environments;
Able to communicate effectively with government officials and community leaders;
Adaptability and ability to live and work in remote conditions, involving physical hardship and basic comfort.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Advisers/Technical Specialists must comply with national laws and are subject to UNDP’s Code of Conduct for the Advisers.

Professionalism:

Demonstrable ability to design and implement complex management systems;
Strong analytical skills and knowledge of research methodologies and internationals standards on data collections.

Planning and management:

Ability to work to tight deadlines and handle multiple concurrent project activities.

Teamwork:

Ability to interact and to establish and maintain effective working relations with people of different national and multi-cultural backgrounds;
Strong negotiating and interpersonal skills; Ability to build strong relationships with counterparts while maintaining professional independence.

Communication:

Excellent communication skills, including the ability to convey complex information both orally and in writing, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences;
Ability to present complex data in simplified form. Ability to negotiate and persuade.

Required Skills and Experience

Education Requirement:

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in law (strongly preferable), or political science, international studies, development studies, public administration or other related field.

Experince Requirement:

At least 8 years related professional experience on access to justice and rule of law issue with significant demonstrated experience in establishing and overseeing legal aid clinics/free legal services;
Demonstrated understanding of the working procedures of justice sector institutions in post-conflict countries and/or emerging societies;
Demonstrable experience in developing Access to justice surveys and assessments;
Working experience in civil law countries is highly desirable;
Experience related to legal pluralism, customary law, or local justice and experience in outreach and awareness-raising in the justice sector would be considered an asset;
Understanding of Results Based Management and M&E processes;
Strong computer skills, including spreadsheets.

Language Requirement:

Excellent communication skills in written and spoken English;
Knowledge of Portuguese, Tetum or Bahasa Indonesian is an asset.

Other:

Willingness and ability to frequent travel to the districts of Timor-Leste;
Willingness to travel to outlying districts and live and work under difficult circumstances.