UNDP Jobs in Uganda- National Consultant

Job Title:NATIONAL CONSULTANT
Location : Uganda, UGANDA
Application Deadline : 22-Jan-12
Additional Category Democratic Governance
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : National Consultant
Languages Required :
English
Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 06-Feb-2012
Duration of Initial Contract : 8 months
Expected Duration of Assignment : 8 months
Background

In 2006, the Constitutional Court in Uganda Law Society V. AG (Constitutional Petition No. 18/2005) declared the trial of civilians in military court martial unconstitutional, a decision that was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court on appeal in AG V. Uganda Law Society (Constitutional Appeal SCCA No. 1/2006) in 2009. Recently in September 2011, UPDF Defence and Army Spokesperson announced that a directive had been issued by the UPDF administration to cease the trial of civilians in court martial.

On this basis, the Uganda Human Rights Commission whose mandate is to protect and promote human rights as guaranteed by the Constitution and other binding human rights instruments, in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Uganda office whose mandate includes providing technical assistance to the competent authorities in relation to measures to promote and protect human rights in the country, will undertake a joint project to monitor the operation and process of transfer of civilian cases from court martial system to ordinary civilian courts to assess the effective implementation of the UPDF directive, the operation and functionality of the court martial system to determine the extent of compliance to established standards of fair trial and due process with a view to identify capacity gaps and recommend appropriate procedural and institutional reforms.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives:

Uganda Human Rights Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Uganda (OHCHR) seek to engage a national consultant to implement specific activities under this project and in particular the following:

Conduct research on the operations of the court martial system in Uganda in order to assess the military courts’ compliance with the national, regional and international human rights instruments and principles of fair trial guarantees and the due process of the law.
To monitor and ensure that the applied transition process and procedure of transfer of civilian cases to the ordinary court system conforms to established principles of fair trial and due process.
The consultant in close collaboration with UHRC/OHCHR will also assess the Court martial trials where military personnel are tried and prosecuted for human rights violations in response to the right to effective remedy with a view to inform necessary institutional reforms and strategies.

Methodology:

The consultancy will be mostly field-based to be implemented within 8 months period. The consultant will work in close relationship with UHRC/OHCHR task force assigned to this project in both Kampala and Regional Offices.
The Consultant will conduct interviews with different stakeholders within the military court administration, criminal suspects still in custody of court martial system or transferred to civilian courts, members of relevant justice law and order sector institutions, civil society actors, and International NGOS with the aim to obtain information on the nature and operation of the court martial system and understand the current status of cases and key challenges.
The consultant will also participate in a series of technical meetings along with UHRC, OHCHR, members of the relevant justice law and order sector institutions, CSOs and International agencies to consult and obtain their views on the development of a proposal for an appropriate transfer strategy of pending cases.
The information obtained will be compiled into an analytical report, which will also highlight on international human rights standards related to the trial of civilian suspects in military courts, recommendations of international human rights bodies and the current context in Uganda.
This will be followed up with a validation workshop to present the findings of consultant and to initiate the dissemination of the report. The report will also be useful to engage in dialogue with relevant actors within the military’s hierarchy and relevant legal authorities, facilitate advocacy with various actors and guide technical assistance interventions by UHRC and OHCHR with the JLOS as well as other relevant actors.

Scope of work:

Under the overall supervision of the Uganda Human Rights Commission and the UN Human Rights Office in Uganda, the consultant will be required to:

Monitoring: The national consultant will support a monitoring strategy to analyse the functioning of the court martial system and establish a database of existing cases in military courts involving civilians, develop a monitoring tool/checklist on human rights performance and accountability for alleged human rights violations. He /she will create a time schedule of all court martial sessions due to take place nationwide during the contract period and observe proceedings to assess compliance with due process and fair trial procedures and report on any pending cases involving civilians. The consultant will also pay attention to court martial trials of alleged human rights violations.
Development of tools: Design, in consultation with UHRC/OHCHR technical officers, monitoring checklist/tool to facilitate monitoring of court martial sessions. This tool will be applied by technical officers of UHRC and OHCHR in monitoring court martial to ensure coherence and consistent reporting. The tool should reflect key aspects to monitor during court martial trials drawing upon contemporary legal and human rights standards relating to fair trial guarantees and due process.
Stakeholder meetings: Facilitate technical meetings to consult relevant stakeholders on appropriate transfer strategy and feedback on field findings; facilitate follow-up technical discussions to finalise first draft of the report and coordinate with UHRC and OHCHR to plan, organise and facilitate a validation workshop to present draft report
• Compilation of findings: Make use of the findings, interview results and workshop resolutions to compile a final analytical study report on court martial system with specific recommendations on legal and institutional obligations and transfer strategy for pending cases.
Evaluate current institutional capacity within the ordinary justice sector to handle cases from the military courts and recommend appropriate strategy for the transfer/integration of these cases making recommendations to be agreed upon by UHRC and OHCHR, indicating responsibilities of key players, capacity development needs and possible human rights concerns.

Required Outputs:

A monitoring toolkit/checklist to be adopted by UHRC and OHCHR to facilitate institutional monitoring of court martial proceedings with regard to human rights concerns.
An inception report highlighting key issues and focus areas for the research study.
Monthly reporting to OHCHR/UHRC taskforce on activities, progress and any constraints encountered.
Analytical study report on the findings of the project, highlighting key issues on the current situation of civilian cases and transfer process as well as institutional capacity within the ordinary justice system; trials of military personnel involved in alleged human rights violations; and the assessment of court martial’s compliance with human rights laws and principles.. The consultant will be required to produce this report in accordance with the specific required output as well as specific recommendations for appropriate transfer strategy to enhance fair trial guarantees and principles of natural justice. Cite challenges faced and possible interventions by UHRC.

Timeframe:

December 15thst 2011 - Signing of contract – 40% disbursement of fee
December 15th - 22nd 2011 – Submission of work plan and calendar or events
February 15th, 2012 – Inception report
Feb– July, 2012 – Court monitoring and technical meetings convened July15th 2012
Presentation of final Analytical study report – 60% disbursement of fee.

Reporting:

The consultant will be directly supervised by the Director, Monitoring and Inspections of the Uganda Human Rights Commission and the UN Human Rights Office in Uganda until completion of the assignment.

Competencies

Required Competencies

Minimum 7 years experience in criminal justice practice preferably with proven understanding of the functioning and procedures of the court martial system in Uganda
Experience and proven record of working on projects including designing and development analytical research reports using relevant methodologies and tools.
Demonstrable analytical, writing, research and presentation skills.
Demonstrated ability to work with a wide range of government and civil society counterparts and donor and UN partners.
Knowledge and experience in human rights will be an added advantage
Understanding of UHRC and OHCHR’s mission, policies and processes.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Degree in law with specialised experience in criminal justice practice and procedure.
Advanced degree in International Human Rights Law would be an asset.
Contact details of the last three clients for whom similar work was completed must be given for reference checks.

Language:

Fluency and excellent command of written and spoken English is a necessity.

Application Procedure

Applicants are required to submit an application and proposals, which include the following:

I. Job Proposal:

Letter of Interest.
Explanation as to why you consider yourself suitable for the assignment
A brief methodology on the approach and implementation of the assignment.

II. Personal CV Highlighting past experience in similar projects. Work references - contact details (e-mail addresses) of referees.

III. Financial proposal indicating consultancy fee, lump sum fee or unit price together with any other expenses related to the assignment (e.g. travel costs, translation interpretation, holding of workshops/focus group discussion etc).

Please note that the system will only allow you to upload one document, therefore all the job and financial proposals are to be attached to the CVs and uploaded together at once.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

To Apply;
http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=27553

Deadline;22nd January 2012