Background
The Activating Village Courts in Bangladesh (AVCB) Project managed by UNDP, and funded by the European Union (EU), commenced in 2009 as a pilot project, targeting 351 Unions (out of 4,545 in Bangladesh) in 6 divisions (Dhaka, Rangpur, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong & Sylhet) to activate Village Courts effectively as a local dispute resolution mechanism. The project was implemented by the Local Government Division (LGD) of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MoLGRD&C).
Following the success of the Activating Village Courts in Bangladesh (AVCB) project (2009 - 2015), the GoB and the European Union (EU) have agreed in 2015 to launch the AVCB project Phase II (AVCBII, 2016 – 2019). The overall objective of the AVCB II project is to contribute to improving access to justice for disadvantaged and marginalized groups in Bangladesh. The project will provide support to the local level justice system through activating village courts in estimated 1,080 Unions of Bangladesh.
The specific objectives of the AVCBII project are:
To make local authorities more responsive to local justice needs and offer appropriate legal services in the form of well- functioning village courts.
To empower local people, especially women, the poor and vulnerable groups to seek remedies for injustices and to resolve their disputes at the local level in an expeditious, transparent and affordable manner.
Objectives of the Assignment
One of the key of AVCBII is ensuring Union Parishads (UP) have resources and capacity to make the village courts function.
Therefore, various learning materials on village courts will be developed and used for enhancing skills and knowledge on the courts and its trial process, which also develop mass awareness of the common people in the project intervention area.
Within this context, to enhance the knowledge and skill of respective stakeholders and ensure participatory process in capacity development intervention, the project planned to review, update and develop materials on village courts as a ready reference. Hence, to standardize the operation modality of the village courts, the project developed the Village Courts Operation Manual during the pilot phase which needs further review, update and revision considering the village courts act amendment in 2013. Accordingly, project needs to hire a national consultant to accomplish this assignment.
Against the backdrop outlined above, the objective of the assignment is to review and examine the developed Village Courts Operation Manual so that it is:
- In compliance with the Village Courts Act of 2006, Village Courts (Amendment) Act of 2013 and Village Courts Rules 2016;
- In compliance with other related/ relevant legislations;
- Accommodate relevant government circulars, notices as applicable to VCs
- Accommodate the requirements from relevant stakeholders for easy and effective functions of VCs
- In compliance with the spirit of resolving disputes collaboratively.
Duties and Responsibilities
Scope of work
The consultant will
- Review Village Court Act, Rules and other relevant laws
- Review existing primary documents, materials, publications on Village Courts and already drafted Village Courts Operation Manual;
- Will carry out field visit to understand the process as well as to assess the needs from the beneficiaries of the VCs
- Organise and conduct consultation meetings, workshops with relevant stakeholders (UP representatives, DDLGs, UNOs, DLAOs, justice seekers etc), collect the findings, compile recommendations and suggestions;
- Collect and compile relevant government circulars, letters and notices relating to VCs and incorporates those into the manual in consultation with Project Staffs
- Draft VC Manual incorporating laws, rules, guidelines and update necessary sections;
- Convert the draft into a more reader-friendly version;
- Facilitate the consultation process with key stakeholders (project staff and concerned ministries) to vet the draft;
- S/he will carry out any other activities that may arise during the process completing this assignment as instructed by Contract Administrator.
Expected Deliverables
The consultant will develop Village Courts Operation Manual. S/he will also submit a detailed report documenting process followed to revise and develop the manual. It is noted here, the copy rights of all the documents/ deliverables will belong to UNDP and would not be allowed to print/publish externally with his/her name during/after the assignment period.
Time frame of the assignment
This contract is for 40(forty) (working days (over the period of three calendar months) and the deliverables should be provided as per the following schedule:
Deliverables and Timelines
Inception Report on Documents/Literature review and action plan with schedule of field visit - 5 days
Conduct Field visits and consultation meetings with relevant stakeholders and submit first draft of Village Courts Operation Manual - 25 working days
Facilitate consultations with key stakeholders including ministry with the first draft and validate the draft manual - 5 working days
Submit Final draft of manual with process documentation - 5 working days
Total working days - 40 Working Days
Competencies
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards (human rights, peace, understanding between peoples and nations, tolerance, integrity, respect, results in orientation (UNDP core ethics) impartiality;
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Functional Competencies
- Demonstrate openness to change, flexibility and ability to manage complexities;
- Settlement, planning, review and editing, updating and practical knowledge to work with justice sectors (especially in local justice context at community level);
- Proven writing ability both in Bangla and English language;
- Must have strong material development and reviewing skills
- Proven networking and communication skills.
Required Skills and Experience
Qualifications of the Consultant
I. Academic Qualifications:
Minimum Master’s in Law/ Social Science or any other relevant discipline.
II. Years of experience:
- 15 years of relevant experience in access to justice;
- Previous experience of working with government machinery/ department, UN organization, national or international rights-based/development organizations/institutions on development of justice delivery system/ social justice and human rights, act amendment process, drafting policy papers, work on community based integration intervention etc. is essential;
- Previous experience of conducting review/research/study related with local government, justice system, alternative dispute resolution mechanism and human rights will get preference;
- Familiarity with the country’s overall justice needs, quasi-formal justice system, restorative justice and local governance structure will be an added value.
- Practical experience of working with UN organization and government agencies for Village Courts Act/Rules and relationship with concern ministry/department relevant with local justice services, social protection, human rights will get preference
Language
- S/he must have excellent skills in written and spoken English and capacity to provide high-quality analytical inputs in a professional and timely manner
- Understanding of legal language will be useful
Criteria for Selection of the Consultant
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following:
Cumulative analysis
When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
a) responsive/ compliant/ acceptable, and
b) 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% point in Technical Evaluation, would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Criteria Max. Point
A. Technical 70
i. Educational background and overall length of working experience 20
ii. Relevant experience of working with government machinery/
department, UN organization, national or international rights-based/
development organisations/institutions on development of justice
system/social justice/Village Courts Act/Rules/ human rights,
act amendment, rules drafting, establishing inter-agency collaborations etc. 20
iii. Methodology to approach and complete the assignment 10
iv. Professional training on legal matters/human rights/social development
and participation in the national/international seminars/workshop in similar areas 10
v. Good understanding of justice system (of Bangladesh) and justice seeking
behaviour of people especially at the grassroots; 15
vi. Participation and publication on legal issues specially on human rights or
social protection work 5
B. Financial 30
Total (A+B) 100
Interested individuals must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.
- Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
- Personal CV or P11, indicating descriptions of all relevant past experience from similar activities/ projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
- A brief description of why the individual consider him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment highlighting the understanding of justice system (of Bangladesh) and justice seeking behavior of people especially at the grassroots level; and
- A methodology on how s/he will approach and complete the assignment.
Candidates are requested to submit their financial proposal using the template from the below link;
Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.