UNDP Jobs - 55857- Consultancy for Research on Harmonization of Custo

Consultancy for Research on Harmonization of Customary and Statutory Laws (10 Positions)

Location :

SOUTH SUDAN, SOUTH SUDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

20-May-2015

Application Deadline :

02-May-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

11 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

11 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

Background and Organizational Context

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), provides legal advice to the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS). More particularly, the Ministry is responsible to: advise all levels of GRSS on legal matters; represent all levels of GRSS in public prosecution, litigation and adjudication; draft legislation for all levels of the GRSS; any other functions and duties that may be assigned to it by law, the GRSS or any other level of Government in South Sudan; and establish legal administrations for each of the ten states in South Sudan.

UNDP through its Access to Justice and Rule of Law Project provides institutional support to the MoJ through a capacity development strategy, and support to infrastructure to achieve MoJ’s short-term objectives while facilitating strategic planning for achievement of its medium and long-term objectives. Ultimately, the strategy is aimed at enabling the MoJ to achieve its mission of creating a strong foundation for a united, peaceful and prosperous society based on justice, equality, respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Through this Project, UNDP has been providing support to MoJ in three areas: technical advice, capacity building and infrastructure/equipment support. Both national and international consultants with functional expertise and experience in comparative jurisdictions have been engaged and seconded to the MoJ to provide technical support.

The Project has worked closely with the MoJ to establish a customary law centre and undertake research and ascertainment of customary laws in an attempt to harmonize customary structures with those provided in the new constitutional dispensation of South Sudan.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. The nascent country has a vastly diverse population with many ethnic communities that continue to rely on the use of customary law and traditional authorities to resolve disputes. There are more than 60 communities/tribal groups that practice their own customary laws. The statutory and traditional legal systems have coexisted and interacted for over a century in the region. Thus customary law is an integral component of the justice system in the country, with customary law recognized as a source of legislation in the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan. Thus customary law and statutory law operate side by side in South Sudan, thereby creating a legal pluralist system. Studies and assessments have cited the fact that the overwhelming majority of disputes are handled at the customary level and that there is an urgent need to harmonize customary mechanisms with the statutory system. It is therefore critical to conduct studies on the state of customary law and its interaction with the statutory system.

Research on Harmonization of Customary and Statutory Laws Consultancy

UNDP intends to publish an inter disciplinary review of the state of customary laws in South Sudan. The review will consist of a collection of academic research and articles from 10 South Sudanese academics. The review will be multi-disciplinary and include scholarly articles and cover the areas of law, anthropology, and social sciences. The project will analysise differences between the customary laws of the various communities of the Republic of South Sudan and the statutory law, seek to harmonize the customary and statutory systems. Each consultant will select their on topic. Each paper will be between 3,500 to 5,000 words. The research papers will be presented at an annual rule of law forum for traditional leaders in June 2015 and will be subjected to review by other authors.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective

The objectives of the Research on Harmonization of Customary and Statutory Laws Consultancy Project are to:

Conduct review and analysis on the status of customary laws and explore their harmonization with the statutory system;
Produce and publish the research findings.

Scope of work

Each consultant will choose a topic of interest related to customary law, including the question of harmonization of customary and statutory laws in South Sudan. The research papers produced will be presented at a session of the annual Rule of Law Forum for Traditional Leaders from all the ten states for review by other presenters and feedback from traditional leaders. The review process is meant to enhance the quality of the research.

While proceeding as described, the consultants will:

Work in coordination with the UNDP Chief Technical Advisor, Ministry of Justice;
Where necessary, work in close coordination with all relevant stakeholders specifically MoJ, the Judiciary of South Sudan (JoSS), Local Government Board, the Ministries of Local Government and Law Enforcement at the level of states and the Councils of Chiefs;
Produce a fully referenced paper of publishable quality;
Present the paper to the UNDP Chief Technical Advisor (MoJ) for review;
Present the paper of between 3,500 to 5,000 words at the annual Forum for Traditional Leaders for review and take part in the review process for other papers;
Finalize the paper in line with the feedback of the review at the annual Rule of Law Forum and the Chief Technical Advisor’s recommendations;
Finalize and produce a paper of publishable quality for submission to UNDP.

Duration:11 days

Deliverables

Research and Writing

To be prepared in 7 days:

Literature review that defines, contrast and harmonizes customary law from a legal, anthropological, comparative or multi-disciplinary perspective, including a comprehensive account of previous functions of customary law/courts parallel to the present legal system/statutory law;
Writing of legal, anthropological comparative or mutli-disciplinary paper of between 3,500-5,000 words. The paper should be of publishable quality and fully referenced;
Final papers to be submitted in soft and hard copies prior to the commencement of the annual Rule of Law Forum of traditional leaders.

Presentation and Paper Peer review

To be performed in 1 day:

The papers will be presented at the annual Rule of Law forum for traditional leaders for peer review.

Finalizing and Editing of Paper:

To be finalized in 3 days

Finalizing the paper in consonance with the review inputs of peers and the UNDP Chief Technical Advisor.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Ability to plan, organize, coordinate, undertake, and report on the implementation of the harmonization of customary and statutory laws project;
Demonstrated knowledge and applied skills in legal pluralism, the ascertainment and harmonization of customary law and statutory law;
Knowledge of rule of law institutions, current political situation and historical background of South Sudan is desirable;
Ability to organize and produce results in a fluid working environment in a post-conflict and conflict context;
Communication and team building skills, strong communication and interpersonal, analysis, and planning skills, and ability to work amicably in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural work situation;
Understanding of legal reform strategies within a post-conflict context is highly desirable.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced degree in Law, applied legal anthropology, social sciences, legal pluralism, peace studies or other relevant field of study with strong background in legal research.

Experiences:

Minimum of 7 years’ experience in applied research and strategic planning in legal pluralism (work focus on traditional leaders and members of traditional communities) and other sectors of law;
Demonstrate strong drafting skills is highly desired;
Background in the field of promotion of human rights.

Language:

Fluency in English (written and oral) required.

Application:

Interested candidates should apply by sending their Letter of Interest and CV (preferably United Nations Personal History Form (P.11 Form)) to: bids.juba@undp.org or drop a sealed envelope marked Confidential with the title of the position at UNDP Office in Juba by latest 2 nd May 2015. The envelope should be clearly marked “Research on Harmonization of Customary and Statutory Laws Consultancy”. All applications should include a research topic and abstract of not more than 200 words. The available starting date and fees of the assignment which is subject to negotiation should be clearly stated in the Letter of Interest;
Women Candidates are highly encouraged to apply;
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.