UNDP Jobs - 55081- International Expert for Capacity Development of t

International Expert for Capacity Development of the Attorney General’s Office

Location :

Male', MALDIVES

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

30-Apr-2015

Application Deadline :

07-Apr-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

52 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

52 working 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

Since 2004, Maldives has been undergoing a series of reform initiatives introduced by the Government. The new Constitution of 2008 established a system of democratic governance and provided for the separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. However, the transition to democracy has been difficult with the country facing significant challenges in consolidating initial progress. As part of the national efforts towards democratization there has been significant focus on promoting human rights and strengthening the justice sector. UNDP has been a key partner in providing support to the justice sector and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to implement justice sector reform in the Maldives.

The AGO was established in 1950 as legal advisor to the Maldivian Government. Under the Constitution of 2008, the AG is appointed by the President under Article 133 which defines AG’s constitutional mandate. The AG is a member of the Cabinet and the legal advisor to the government. It is the AG’s function to advise the government on all legal matters affecting the State. According to article 133(e):

“The Attorney general shall promote, protect, uphold and defend the rule of law, the public safety, the freedoms of the public and the public interest.”

The AGO is divided into 3 sections: Civil Litigation (court work), Legal Affairs (opinion and advisory work) and Legislative Affairs (legislative drafting and review work).The AGO plays a key part in legislative reform and strengthening of rule of law and access to justice in the country. The development of the capacity of staff in the office is crucial for success of the reform being undertaken in the country.

In February 2014, through UNDP Maldives under its integrated governance programme (IGP), a mission from UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Office supported the AGO in conducting a diagnosis of the office. The mission analyzed the AGO’s capacity to promote, protect, uphold and defend the rule of law, the public safety, the freedoms of the public and the public interest. This diagnosis and benchmarking including setting of priorities and strategies for AGO’s 5-Year Strategic Plan.

Building on this work, UNDP Maldives in partnership with the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) provided the expertise of an international Senior Advisor to act as a strategic planning and policy adviser to the Attorney General. Through this exercise it was identified that an international expert was required to support in developing in the legal and policy development capacities of the institution and its staff.

UNDP seeks the expertise of an international expert to support capacity development at the AGO.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of the Attorney General and the direction of UNDP CO, the international expert will provide technical support to strengthen the legal advisory functions of the AGO. His/her main duties are as follows:

Support the AGO in providing legal advice to government;
Formulate standard forms of contracts for Government’s needs as identified by the AGO;
Assist in developing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Guidelines and other documentation to improve the functioning of the legal advisory section of the AGO;
Based on the needs assessment prepared by the Senior Advisor, undertake capacity building activities to strengthen legal drafting and advisory skills of AGO lawyers;
Conduct training on vetting transactional & financial documents and legal drafting.

Expected Outputs/Deliverables

Report on legal advice provided;
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Guidelines and other required documents;
Standard forms of contracts for Government’s needs as identified by the AGO;
Training for staff of Attorney General’s Office in legal drafting and advisory work.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work on a daily basis within the AGO and under the technical guidance of the AGO. He/she will report to the Project Coordinator of Result Area 2. IGP Weekly briefing meetings will be held with ARR Governance and Programme Manager of IGP. A meeting with UNDP senior management and the Attorney General will be held monthly or required.

Duration of the work:

The duration of this assignment will be a total of between 6 months to 1 year (52 working days), starting from 30 April 2015.

Duty station:

The duty station will be in Male’, Maldives

Scope of the financial proposal and schedule of payment

The consultancy fee will be in lump sum inclusive of international travel and local living expenses to be paid in installments corresponding to deliverables.

Required documents:

The application must include a letter of interest to undertake this task, P-11, and a proposal for fees. To download P11, kindly please visit the link http://www.mv.undp.org/content/maldives/en/home/operations/jobs/.

Please combine all the documents into one single file and upload as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Inter-personal skills;
Exceptional analytical skills, solution oriented program design skills;
Research and evaluation skills including ability to synthesize information;
Excellent oral, and effective presentation and report-writing skills;
Ability to work under with minimum supervision, while meeting deadlines;
Demonstrated ability of timely completion of assignments;
Excellent social and communication skills;
Strong facilitation skills;
Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural settings;
Excellent computers skills required.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’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;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A minimum of Master’s Degree in Law or equivalent qualification.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of professional experience working in the legal field at a technical level including extensive experience in legal advisory work, especially experience in commercial, financial or banking law and/or constitutional and administrative law, developing relevant documents on procedures, guidelines and SOPs as well as standard form contracts;
Experience in developing and delivering legal training.

Language Requirements:

Fluent in written and spoken English is required.