Background

Maldives had been undergoing a series of reform initiatives introduced by the Government since 2004. The Constitution was amended to establish a system of democratic governance. The new Constitution provides for the first time 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 democratisation there has been significant focus on promoting human rights and strengthening the justice sector.

In the Maldives, prior to September 2008 all prosecutions were conducted under the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). Lawyers from the AGO represented the State in court proceedings, including all prosecutions. The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), as an institution, was created under the new Constitution as a constitutional body and came into being from 7 September 2008.

There has been a strong emphasis on developing the capacity of the PGO to meet the demands of the changing environment in the country such as the shift from a confession based system to an evidence based system. One key area in this regard is the capacity development of Prosecutors. However, there are several challenges to providing relevant and applicable training in the area of criminal justice as the Maldivian legal framework lacks comprehensive rules governing the legislation on Evidence and Criminal Procedure. The existing Evidence Act is a brief single paged legislation. Mostly unwritten rules govern the operation of the courts in adjudicating criminal cases. The new legislation on Evidence and Criminal Procedure is currently pending in parliament. In order for the PGO to be prepared for the legislations, it is important for prosecutors to develop an understanding of the concepts of criminal justice and evidence based prosecution as well as international best practices in this area and provide inputs to the new legislations.

UNDP under its Integrated Governance Programme (IGP) is providing support to the development of the PGO capacities in key areas including effective prosecution. As such UNDP is seeking the services of an international expert to support the capacity development of the PGO in the area of criminal procedure and evidence to improve the institution’s effectiveness in prosecution.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the assignment is to review the current prosecutorial practices in the Maldives and conduct a workshop on the international standards governing criminal procedure and evidence for effective prosecution.

In addition the expert would also be required to provide guidance to the Prosecutor General and his staff on challenges the institution is faced particularly in the areas of developing prosecutorial effectiveness and accountability when there is a legal vacuum in terms of evidence law and criminal procedures. This should include but not be limited to a review of current policies, procedures and guideline in place which guides the admission and application of evidence in prosecution. The expert is required to provide recommendations based on this review on how the PGO could provide effective fair, just prosecution in the current context before the necessary legislations are passed.

The expert will also support the PGO in reviewing the current drafts of the Evidence Bill and Criminal Procedures Code.

• Conduct a series of  consultations with prosecutors and other key stakeholders in the justice sector to identify challenges faced by the institutions and review the current prosecution practices;
• Draft a paper based on the consultations with Prosecutor General’s Office and key stakeholders on issues and gaps in current prosecutorial practices providing short-medium-long term recommendations for PGO in providing fair, just and effective prosecution in the current context;
• Based on the consultations and review, identify the needs for training for the prosecutor general’s office and develop a costed training plan which includes recommendations for potential resources or mechanisms that could deliver them;
• Conduct an awareness workshop on identified needs of the prosecutor general’s office on international best practices and concepts of Evidence and Criminal Procedures;
• Review the draft evidence bill and criminal procedure bill currently pending in parliament together with PGO staff;
• Facilitate discussions and support the efforts by the PGO staff to review draft evidence bill and criminal procedure bill currently pending in parliament, by guiding discussions and providing timely feedback and guidance throughout the process and contribute to the preparation of a discussion paper on these bills.

• Paper which outlines key issues and gaps in current prosecutorial practices and provide short-medium-long term recommendations for PGO in providing fair, just and effective prosecution in the current context;
• Report on training needs of the prosecutor general’s office with a costed training plan and recommendations for potential resources and mechanism to deliver them;
• Awareness workshop on international best practices and concepts of Evidence and Criminal Procedure;
• Discussion Paper on the draft bills on evidence and criminal procedures and provide recommendations in line with international best practice;

The consultant would be based in the Prosecutor General’s Office during the length of the consultancy.

The consultant will report to the Project coordinator of Result Area 2 and receive guidance from the Prosecutor General’s Office. Weekly briefing meetings will be held with ARR Governance and Programme Manager of IGP. A briefing and debriefing meeting will be organized with UNDP senior management at the beginning and end of assignment.

Duration of the work:

• The duration of this assignment will be four weeks.

Duty station:

• The duty station will be Male.

Scope of the Financial proposal and schedule of payment:

• The consultancy fee will be in lumpsum inclusive of economy class air ticket and DSA to be paid in installments corresponding to deliverables.

Recommended documents:

 

The consultant while submitting an application should include a letter of interest to undertake this task, the CV (provide minimum three referees with e-mail address), proposed timeline for the assignment, P11, and the financial proposal for the assignment.  We also request applicants to include a sample module developed for a similar type of training. (The P11 form can be downloaded from the UN Maldives Website http://www.un.org.mv)

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Proven analytical and inter-personal 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;
• Excellent social and communication skills;
• Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural settings;
• Excellent computers skills required.

• 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 Masters Degree in Law, Criminology, or related field, specialization in Evidence Law would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years experience in teaching or conducting trainings in the field of criminal law, prosecution or related field;
• Experience in conducting short term need based trainings;
• Experience in legal drafting is desirable;
• Background in Islamic law and jurisprudence is desirable;
• Working experience in the region would be an added advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in spoken and written English, and competency in report writing

FC: 30000