Background

The Maldives is a young democracy attempting to build on considerable economic and human development gains, but simultaneously still challenged by deep socio-economic, environmental and political issues. After presidential elections in September 2018, and a peaceful transfer of power, the government is moving forward with its reform agenda which focuses on key areas of justice sector reform including the legal profession. As part of this reform agenda, the long-awaited Legal Professions Act (Law no: 5/2019) was enacted in June 2019 creating an independent Bar Council for the first time to regulate the legal field.

The act mandates the Bar Council to draft legislations to regulate all matters relating to the operations and services of lawyers in the country, issuing of legal licenses, improving the quality of legal education, conducting the bar exam, providing additional training to lawyers, regulating lawyers, investigating and taking necessary disciplinary action against lawyers, ensuring the public has access to legal aid and representation and endeavour to develop the legal field in Maldives.  

Among the many responsibilities of the council, formulation of the bar exam to support the licensing system is one key area in strengthening the quality of the legal professionals. Currently, the majority of the registered lawyers in the Maldives obtained their primary qualifying ‘certificates’ or ‘degrees’ from local institutions. In the most recent licensing system, prior to the Legal Professions Act, any local who has completed a law degree may apply for a license to practice law in the Maldives. There were no licensing exams to test the applicant’s knowledge of the broad rules of law, or internships to develop the necessary skills to become a practicing lawyer. It has been thereby, raised in multiple platforms, that the present system of legal education is hugely deficient in terms of preparing students for a legal career in the Maldives. Legal Professions Act views strengthening of legal education as a key tool, to improving the quality of the legal and justice sector institutions and incorporates extensive provisions to change the system of legal education, legal training and licensing in the Maldives. To this effect, the issuing of practicing licenses under this Act, is based on the passing of a bar exam and the completion of a year-long legal training program.

The Bar Council of the Maldives has since commenced its work to develop the minimum standards for legal education and licensing in the Maldives. In October 2019, the Council published the new Licensing Regulation and is currently working to review the existing curricula followed at the local institutions and establishing minimum standards for law school curricula.

UNDP supported to conduct a review of the legal curricula with the establishment of the Bar Council last year and the Bar Council views the formulation of the bar exam as the next gradual step from the finalisation of the curricula. Hence, in view of the next steps in ensuring quality legal education and the quality of the legal professionals, UNDP under its Integrated Governance Programme (IGP) with the Bar Council of Maldives is seeking the support of an international consultant to support the formulation of country’s first national bar exam.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of the Bar Council and UNDP, the consultant will lead the process of formulating the bar examination required to qualify for a practicing license in the Maldives. The tasks to be undertaken by the consultant under the Terms of Reference include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following;

Home Based (10 days):

1. Conduct a desk review of existing legal education courses (looking at the recently completed review of the curricula) and the licensing system, together with the requirements of the Legal Professions Act, and the feasibility of a bar exam, best testing methods, subject areas and format to conduct a national bar exam and submit an inception report outlining recommendations in line with international norms, standards and best practices;
2. Review relevant assessments and follow up on their recommendations.

In Country (15 days):

1. Organize and conduct consultation meetings with relevant stakeholders including but not limited to relevant government institutions, judiciary, lawyers, academia and civil society organizations to better understand the current challenges and feasibility of recommendations;
2. Organise and conduct a training workshop aimed at members and secretariat of the Bar Council and the legal academia, on areas identified in the inception report, proposed testing methods, format and facilitating of bar exams

Home Based (15 days)

1. Based on the review of suggested policy directives from the Bar Council and key stakeholders and based on the inception report, submit a comprehensive assessment on the prospects for the initial bar exams, best testing methods, subject areas and format to conduct a national bar exam proposing recommendations and outlining possible constraints and possible actions.
2. Submit the final assessment reflecting the comments of the Bar Council and UNDP.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

All reports shall be submitted as stipulated below and all reports will be submitted as drafts and upon review by the UNDP and the Bar Council, the consultant shall revise the draft report. Once, the revised reports are accepted by the Bar Council and the UNDP, they will be termed as final reports by the consultancy.

The consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables;

1. Inception Report: The inception report shall include a summary of documents reviewed, proposed recommendations, and possible constraints with regard to the proposed changes.
2. Consultations: Conduct consultation meetings with relevant stakeholders to learn about on-the ground practices including the challenges in implementation and monitoring and to discuss possible actions to overcome these challenges.
3. Final Assessment Report: Detailed review of the legal education courses and the licensing system, together with the requirements of the Legal Professions Act, and the feasibility of a bar exam, best testing methods, subject areas and format to conduct a national bar exam with proposed recommendations, constraints with regard to delivery, and proposed actions to overcome the constraints identified.

The following table shows an indication of the duration for the deliverables;

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant is expected to work with the Bar Council. The consultant will be accountable to the Programme Office of IGP, for each deliverable as stipulated in the proposal. Fortnightly meetings will be held with the ARR and the Bar Council focal point. A briefing and debriefing meeting will be organized with UNDP senior management at the beginning and end of assignment.

Duration of the Work

This assignment will take approximately 6 weeks and is expected to start early-March. The consultant should come up with a clear timeline while submitting the proposal taking into consideration the estimated time durations for each deliverable as stipulated above.

Duty Station: Home-based, Maldives

Competencies

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards and acts in accordance with the Standards of Conduct for international civil servants;
• Advocates and 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 favouritism.

Functional Competencies

• Knowledge about the UNDP programmes would be an advantage;
• Proven strong analytical abilities;
• Ability to work under pressure with several tasks and various deadlines;
• Ability to actively generate creative, practical approaches and solutions to overcome challenging situations;
• Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills;
• A pro-active approach to problem-solving;
• General IT Literacy

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• A minimum of a master’s degree in Law

Experience

• A minimum of 15 years of professional experience in reviewing, designing and facilitating bar examinations
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in the justice sector
• Experience working as a law professor is an added asset
• Experience in the region or similar context is an added asset

Language requirement

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required

Application process

Interested individuals must submit the following as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications. 

• A letter indicating why the candidate considers himself/herself suitable for the required consultancy;
• Submission of an updated detailed Personal CV or P11 form which can be downloaded from http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc
• Lump sum financial quotation, with a breakdown of daily consultancy fee, daily subsistence allowance and ticket fees as applicable – clearly indicate the breakdown of daily fee and number of days of work; 
• Previous similar works undertaken by the consultant
• At least two references from recent previous jobs or three references contact details

Note: Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into one single file