UNDP Jobs - 4669- Programme Advisor-Legal Training Coordinator

Programme Advisor-Legal Training Coordinator

Location :

Dili, Timor Leste

Type of Contract :

ALD International

Starting Date :

23-Jun-2008

Application Deadline :

09-May-08 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

ALD-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months

Languages Required :

Portuguese

Expected Duration of Assignment :

2 years

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 Programme is a joint effort by the Ministry of Justice, the Courts and the Prosecution Services of Timor-Leste and UNDP. It aims to strengthen the institutional and human resources capacity of the main institutions of the justice sector It was launched on July 2003 for an initial period of three years and it was revised in the end of 2005 to adapt to the new priorities and reality of the sector. As a consequence of this revision it was increased in scope and in budget as well as extended in time.

The programme is presently a sequence of capacity-developing measures - advice, training and equipment - budgeted at $11m for a 3 to 5 year period, starting in January 2006.

A key component of the programme is the training of national court actors -judges, prosecutors, public defenders and support staff- comprising formal classes in the Legal Training Center, on the job training during a probationary phase and mentoring by experienced international advisers after the final graduation.

In August 2007, the programme fielded an Independent Mid-Term Evaluation mission, as mandated in its Project Document. Following the recommendations of this mission, the Justice Programme will endeavor to strengthen the training of national court actors, accelerating the scheduling of new courses and widening the offer of courses to include court clerks and private lawyers. It is expected that this actions will deliver an increased national ownership of the justice sector and support the Programme exit strategy, shifting international advisers from line functions to mentoring roles and finally phasing them out.

Taking advantage of the lessons learned so far, the Programme will focus on deploying lecturers with experience as court actors but devoted full-time to teaching and mentoring. During the probationary phase, the mentoring of the trainees will require more harmonization of technical and pedagogical aspects, leading to the need of a stronger coordination.

Along the line of creating national capacity, it is necessary -and a request of the national counterparts- that the Programme fields an international adviser as counterpart of the national Director of the Legal Training Center

Under overall direction of the Executive Board of the Legal Training Centre (LTC) and the Chief Technical Adviser (CTA), the Training Coordinator of the LTC will lead the design and development of training plans for the specialized courses for judges, prosecutors, public defenders, legal clerks and others conducted at the LTC. He/she will be responsible for the implementation of the training plans and the evaluation of the students, through the coordination of the Lecturers, observing the rules established by the Executive Board.

The Training Coordinator will provide advice and act as Secretary to the Executive and Academic Boards in the general implementation of the training component of the Justice Programme. He/she will work closely with the Justice Programme CTA and the national Director of the LTC, transferring skills and assist the latter in the general administration of the LTC.

Duties and Responsibilities

Advise and act as secretary to the Executive and Academic Boards of LTC on issues pertaining to training activities, including drafting of legislation, regulations, legal guidelines and cooperation agreements related to the training of national court actors; ensuring availability of draft decisions, regulations and other documents to be considered and implemented by the Executive and Academic Board.
Design and develop training curricula:design, develop, and consolidate curricula and summaries for the training programme. Implement comprehensive training material and plans. Prepare, organize and conduct examinations, evaluations and other activities related to training.
Compile training curricula according to the policies set by the Executive and Academic Boards and successful implementation of the curricula in the training courses.
Coordinate the LTC Lecturers and support lecturers as required: Establish reporting mechanisms for Lecturers in order to identify risks and constraints. Implement training in a coordinated manner, applying best practices and taking advantage of lessons learned.
Organize, monitor and report on probationary mentoring: Identify, establish and implement capacity-building strategies and mentoring guidelines. Organize, monitor and report on the mentoring of the probationary national court actors according to the guidelines adopted by the Executive Board of the LTC. Assist in mentoring probationary court actors to assist in the introduction of routines, systems and processes learned during the training. Conduct mentoring during probationary phase in an efficient, culturally sensible and harmonized manner and LTC Boards are made aware of progress of students and needs for complementary training.
Support national director of the LTC: Transfer skills and support Lecturer's provision of standardized post-graduated, professional training for lawyers seeking appointment to judge, prosecutor or public defender. Support and provide advice for the training of court clerks and other court actors. Give assistance to the national Director in the general administration of the LTC and as required; focusing on development of national capacity in the conduct of the LTC and successful completion of training course.

Competencies

The incumbent should have strong communication skills - spoken, written and presentational and cultural sensitivity, being able to dispense specialized legal training for magistrates and other court actors, to students from a different cultural and academic background that may not be completely fluent in Portuguese.
He/she should have the ability to identify, establish and implement capacity-building strategies, write legal plans, programmes and syllabi and write and develop comprehensive training manuals.
The Training Coordinator should have the ability to communicate effectively with colleagues from all backgrounds and establishing him/herself as a respected reference for the Lecturers and the national Director of the LTC.
He/she must earn and show respect for the students, establishing him/herself as a trusted adviser that will, in the probationary phase, be able to dispense advice in the practice of the judicial function without interference in the responsibility of the probationary court actors.

Required Skills and Experience

Masters Degree or Advanced university degree in law or Judiciary Studies from a civil law country
At least 10 years of experience as a court actor in a civil legal system; and at least 3 years of these as trainer or law teacher.
The incumbent must have substantive knowledge and practical skills of an experienced, senior practitioner in a civil law country, capable and willing to study and adapt to the national legislation.
Proficiency in Portuguese is required. Working knowledge of English and Tetum is highly desirable.