Antecedentes

UNDP and UNMIL are seeking suitable candidates for the position of Senior Legal Advisor. Under the supervision and guidance of the UNDP Deputy Country Director/Programme, the incumbent is expected to support broader efforts to further enhance the institutional capacity of the Liberia Judiciary by supporting the development of a five-year strategic plan (2018-2022).

The UNDP/UNMIL Joint Programme entitled Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Liberia: Justice and Security for the Liberian People (2016-2019) aims to support the Government of Liberia in its efforts to build a society based on the principles of rule of law, human rights and justice. The Programme is geared towards enhancing the capacities of, and public confidence in, rule of law institutions, as well as strengthening access to justice and security, especially for women and girls. Interventions are designed with a view to ensuring sustainability and linking activities to ‘system-level’ policy development.

Support rests on a supply and demand equation that combines enhanced service delivery by resilient justice and security institutions with the public’s ability to access such services and hold duty-bearers to account. By increasing public confidence in the sector, support is designed to be catalytic, strengthening state-society relations and creating an enabling environment for development. As such, the Programme is oriented around the following four mutually reinforcing interventions:

  • Capacity of justice and security institutions strengthened and linkages forged
  • Civil society contribution to rule of law and community access to justice enhanced
  • Gender responsiveness of justice, security and legislative actors strengthened and women and girls’ access to justice and security improved
  • Capacity of key actors and stakeholders to monitor progress and results in rule of law development increased

The outcomes and outputs are based on a clearly defined theory of change, building on the lessons learned during the UN system’s engagement with Liberian rule of law sector since 2003. Capitalising on the comparative advantages of each of the implementing partners, activities are carefully designed to achieve outputs and contribute to outcome level change that impacts the lives of beneficiaries and engenders systemic resilience and human development.

Aimed at successfully implementing UNMIL's mandated tasks and, at the same time, facilitating a smooth transition to longer-term assistance by the UN Country Team (UNCT), the Programme relies on and strengthen coordination and cooperation with and between national counterparts, supporting national ownership and nationally-driven sustainable processes. In addition, UNDP and UNMIL are committed to working closely with other members of the international community, including the UN Country Team (UNCT), the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and the World Bank (WB).

 

Deberes y responsabilidades

Scope of Work

Working very closely with the members of the Supreme Court of Liberia as well as colleagues from the Office of the Court Administrator, the incumbent is expected to support the development of a five-year strategic plan for the Liberia Judiciary. By providing a detailed roadmap for advancing the institutional development of the judiciary branch of government, it is hoped that the new five-year plan will assist the Liberia Judiciary in achieving important gains in efficiency, sustainably reducing case backlogs, and ensuring the timely delivery of justice across the entire country. Moreover, it is hoped that the new plan will lay down a comprehensive approach to strengthening linkages with other rule of law actors and addressing the continued fragmentation across the justice-security continuum.

Deliverables
 A five-year strategic plan for the Liberia Judiciary totalling 30-35 pages plus annexes, including a matrix highlighting priority areas of reform. In addition to setting out the mission and core values of the Liberia Judiciary, the strategic plan is expected to outline how the judiciary branch of government intends to meet the increasing demands for justice, especially in light of the continued lack of fiscal space. Moreover, it is hoped that the strategic plan will sketch out how the Liberia Judiciary intends to enhance trust and confidence in the courts and how it intends to develop and sustain effective relationships with the other branches of government.

Note: the incumbent may be asked to present key findings and recommendations during a number of (high-level) meetings with UN and non-UN stakeholders.

Impact of Results
The five-year strategic plan is aimed at ensuring that the Liberia Judiciary is able to propel its own development and operate according to institutionalised policies and procedures, ensuring it will be able to better meet the justice needs of ordinary Liberians.

Competencias

Corporate Competencies

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN values and ethical standards 
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
  • Treats all people fairly without favouritism
  • Excellent analytical and organisational skills

Functional Competencies

Knowledge Management and Learning

  • Promotes a knowledge-sharing and learning culture
  • In-depth knowledge of development issues
  • Ability to provide and advocate for policy advice
  • Actively works towards continuing personal learning and successfully applies newly acquired skills

Interpersonal Skills

  • Focuses on impact and results for the client and responds positively to feedback
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
  • Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
  • Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors
  • Remains calm, in control and good-humoured even under pressure

Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills

  • Acts with tact and diplomacy
  • Remains calm, in control and good-humoured, even under pressure
  • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities 
  • Possesses the ability to convey difficult issues and positions to (high-level) counterparts and officials

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education: 

  • An advanced university degree in law or related field

Experience: 

  • A minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in the area of design, management and implementation of judicial reform processes;
  • Outstanding academic record; extensive list of judicial reform related publications in peer-reviewed journals;
  • Extensive experience of working in countries affected by conflict, violence and fragility;
  • Outstanding analytical skills; up-to-date knowledge of capacity development principles and approaches;
  • Extensive experience of working with government authorities as well as civil society organisations and academic institutions;
  • Familiarity with the UN system; previous experience of working in Liberia would constitute an advantage.

Language Requirements: 

  • Fluency in English, including outstanding writing skills.

Application procedure:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

  • Technical proposal:

               (i) Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
               (ii) Providing brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work.

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. Payments will be made to the Individual Consultant based on specific and measurable deliverables as specified in the TOR upon completion of the deliverables.
In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days). Please use the Financial Proposal Form provided in Annex 3 :http://www.lr.undp.org/content/liberia/en/home/operations/procurement/? :  http://procurement-notices.undp.org/) for the submission of your financial proposal.

Travel
All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

  • Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
  • Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight: 70%
* Financial Criteria weight: 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% of the maximum points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Criteria Weight  Max. Point
Technical

  • Relevance of Academic Qualifications 20;
  • Professional Experience in similar projects 50;
  • Adequacy of competencies and skills 30;
  • Financial 30 points x price of the lowest price proposed / price of proposal 30.

Applications should be submited to. bids.lr@undp.org