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A2J/ National consultant to support the review and update of the training programs on judicial/forensic expertise for justice professionals from the Republic of Moldova.

Vacancy Number: Pr22/02383

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	11 Feb 2022, 17:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	18 Feb 2022, 17:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	25 Feb 2022, 17:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	09 Mar 2022
Reference to the project:	Strengthening Efficiency and Access to Justice in Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	March – July 2022 (40 working days)
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 11 February 2022 Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: victoria.muntean@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Ms. Victoria Muntean.

Background

The UNDP project “Strengthening Efficiency and Access to Justice in Moldova” (A2J) is a multi-year institutional development project designed to contribute to an increased efficiency of justice services and to improved access to justice of men and women in Moldova, in particular from vulnerable and marginalized groups, through enhanced capacities of forensic institutions to provide qualitative justice services, strengthened capacities of the justice sector actors in the selected pilot areas to provide coordinated response to men’s and women’s justice needs and strengthened civil society able to claim the respect of rights and engage in a constructive dialogue with the justice chain actors. Project interventions will offer and encourage equal opportunity for the participation of men and women.

Although important efforts have been deployed at national level during the last years to advance the efficiency, transparency, fairness and accessibility of the justice sector, improvement is further required to ensure coherent coordination among law enforcement, security, and justice institutions for effective administration of justice, so that men and women, particularly from marginalized or minority groups, are able to claim their rights and access justice effectively.

The system of forensic institutions is an integral part of the justice system. The expert conclusions provided by these institutions are critical for the objective and evidence-based delivery of justice. The quality and accuracy of forensic investigations and examinations have an extensive impact on the quality of justice and affect the overall perception of users about the justice system.

A well-established forensic infrastructure, compliant with the international quality standards, with better capacities of the experts, more transparent and efficient institutional processes, standardization in line with the ISO requirements and automation of internal workflows is crucial for the ability of forensic evidence to adequately put the case under review at all stages of the judicial process.

Furthermore, considering the importance of forensic science and its connection to law, policy and investigation, being a process that encompasses the crime scene throughout to court, understanding of what is and how to use forensic evidence by justice professionals is critical to ensure that justice chain actors (judges, prosecutors, lawyers, criminal investigation officers), who are entitled to request judicial/forensic expertise, have an uniform understanding of the functioning, scope, procedures and mandate of the forensic institutions.

All initial or continuous training programs for judges and prosecutors (organised by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ)), lawyers (delivered by the Lawyer’s Training Centre) or police officers (through the Police Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) include modules addressing judicial expertise and procedures.

The results of the Assessment of the Communication between National Judicial Expertise Institutions and Justice Chain Actors, conducted in 2021 by UNDP in the framework of the A2J Project, indicate that training and methodological support is needed to help the justice professionals better understand the functioning and scope of the judicial expertise, depending on the type of investigation or case, including the procedural aspects of judicial expertise.

Additionally, the findings of the Report on the assessment of the implementation of the mock trial methodology, conducted by UNDP in the framework of the “Support to Justice Sector Reform in Moldova – Reinforcing the National Capacities Skills – Based Training for Legal Professionals” Project, indicate that the NIJ should consider looking into more detail into its methodology for conducting the judicial/forensic expertise training and connecting it to criminal law module, including how to ensure a balanced approach in amount and detail of information so as to fit the profile of the target audience.

UNDP is supporting the institutional development of forensic institutions, providing assistance in reviewing and amending the regulatory framework, as well as supports development of e-tools aimed at integrating isolated and uncoordinated forensic investigations into a consistent and coordinated process.

Recognizing the important role of forensics in ensuring a fair access to justice and aiming at ensuring a better understanding of the role of forensic institutions and on efficient use of forensic expertise amongst justice professionals, UNDP Moldova seeks to hire a National Consultant to offer support to the International Consultant engaged within the A2J Project to review and update the training programs for justice professionals, acting as requestors of judicial expertise within the justice system of the Republic of Moldova.

Scope of work

The expected output for the National Consultant’s assignment is to support the UNDP International Consultant contracted by A2J Project to review and update the training programs on judicial/forensic expertise for justice professionals from Republic of Moldova, providing substantive and administrative support, in the process of carrying out the review and provision of recommendations.

To achieve the stated objective, the Consultant shall perform the following tasks and activities:

1. Provide substantive inputs to the UNDP International Consultant in the process of conducting the desk review related to the assessed area and facilitate the consultation process (including both meetings and interviews part of the data and information collection necessary for the review as well meetings organised throughout the assignment to validate findings and recommendations following the review and drafting of the draft proposals to revised curricula);

• Identify and submit to the International Consultant the list and copies of the relevant national legal framework, existing guidelines/manuals and reports detailing current approaches, practices and methodologies on training programs on judicial/forensic expertise and procedures for justice professionals from the Republic of Moldova;
• Provide translation of short excerpts from the national normative framework, training methodologies and curricula on judicial/forensic expertise and procedures for justice professionals;
• Draft list of relevant key stakeholders to be interviewed and consulted in the process of the review (state institutions and other relevant institutions, etc)^[1];

1. Prepare an Inception Report containing the description of the scope of inputs and support to be provided and workplan for the accomplishment of the current assignment. The Inception Report shall be coordinated with the UNDP International Consultant as to ensure the interconnection of the two assignments;
2. Provide analytical and administrative support in the process of conducting the review of the current training system set-up, training programs and opportunities on judicial/forensic expertise and procedures for justice professionals (judges, prosecutors, lawyers, criminal investigation officers):

• Provide inputs in drafting the methodology and tools for conducting the review and the questionnaires to be used for collection of quantitative and qualitative data;
• Facilitate the process of in-depth interviews and consultation meetings;
• Contribute to the analysis of the collected information and provide substantive inputs in the context of conduct of the consultation meetings and interviews, and development of preliminary findings of the discussions.

1. Based on the findings of the review, provide support to the UNDP International Consultant in shaping the recommendations and advise on solutions aimed to ensure efficient approaches in the training on judicial/forensic expertise and procedures delivered to justice professionals, aligned to the best international practices.
2. Provide support to the UNDP International Consultant in organizing and facilitating participatory workshops to present and validate the findings and recommendations of the review;
3. Provide substantive support to the UNDP International Consultant in the process of developing the Analysis Report. The support shall include, but is not limited to:

• Provide necessary references and legal grounds to substantiate the findings;
• Provide necessary references and legal grounds to substantiate the recommendations and solutions;
• Provide support to proof reading of the Analysis Report, as to ensure compliance with the specialised language and national regulatory framework covering the assessed area;
• Support organisation and facilitate discussions and consultations with the relevant stakeholders, when necessary, in relation to validating and or clearing the findings and recommendations in the Report.

1. Provide substantive support to the UNDP International Consultant in the process of developing draft proposals for adjusting the curricula for the training on judicial/forensic expertise and procedures for justice professionals, customized for each category of justice professionals, and endorse those with the management and/or delegated personnel of the national institutions providing initial and/or continuous training for justice professionals;
2. Provide upon necessity ad-hoc translation of documents relevant for the activity of the UNDP International Consultant as well as interpretation during meeting and interviews, as well as coordinate with the A2J Project Team engagement of any such specialised services;
3. Provide throughout the assignment administrative support related to organisation and conduct of meetings, interviews, validation workshops with the stakeholders, including other support necessary for preparation of the UNDP International Consultant missions to the Republic of Moldova.

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

[1] National institutions providing initial and/or continuous training for justice professionals , Superior Council of Magistrates, Superior Council of Prosecutors, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Union of Lawyers, as well as management and/or delegated personnel from the national judicial expertise institutions and private forensic experts’ bureaus, as well as other stakeholders identified at the desk review and methodology preparation phases.

Requirements for experience

The contractor’s performance will be evaluated against the following criteria: timeliness, professionality, proactiveness, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. Any person applying for this Bid shall have a certain profile in terms of qualifications, skills and special professional experience required to carry out the assignment. The candidates shall have the following relevant skills, qualifications and experience:

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree (or 5 years university degree) in Law, Economy, Forensic Sciences, or related fields of equivalent scope;

Work experience:

• At least 5 years of professional experience, related to the development of university curriculum or professional training courses/programs for legal professionals, or academic experience in the related field;
• At least 3 years of experience in conducting trainings, developing training methodologies and programmes, or exercising other related assignments at training institutions for judges and/or prosecutors;
• Previous assignments related to forensic expertise and procedures area (at least 2 assignments, undertaking or participation in developing educational materials, teaching experience, etc.) is an asset. Confirming documents will be mandatorily provided.

Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge and understating of the set-up and functioning of justice professionals initial and continuous training as well as mandatory content demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Excellent understanding of the forensic expertise and procedures area demonstrated by previous professional experience;
• Demonstrated knowledge of curriculum development process and stages;
• Excellent analytical and report-writing skills demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Demonstrated interpersonal and diplomatic skills, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels and to present ideas clearly and effectively;
• Previous work with UNDP and/or other development partners will be an asset;
• Fluency in Romanian and English. Knowledge of Russian is an asset;
• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status. Please mention in CV if you belong to the group(s) under-represented in the UN Moldova and/or the area of assignment.

UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Documents to be included

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

• Offeror’s Letter confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor assignment with financial proposal (LUMP SUM) (in USD, specifying a total requested amount per working day, including daily fee and all related costs - quoted in separate line items). Financial proposal template included in Annex 2;
• Duly updated CV with at least 3 references;
• Proposal, explaining why he/she is most suitable for the assignment, including past experience in similar assignments, providing a brief information on above qualifications, and brief methodology on how he/she will approach and conduct the work.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. 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 fees, taxes, communication, and number of anticipated working days).