TEAM LEADER – Baseline Assessment: ‘Strengthening Justice Sector Capacities to Uphold the Rule of Law in Iraq’

Background:

UNDP Iraq Country Office with generous funding from INL will implement the project ‘Strengthening Justice Sector Capacities to Uphold the Rule of Law in Iraq’. The focus of the project is twofold to strengthen capacities of the judges to conduct and lead to lead complex organised and financial crime investigations, including on money laundering, corruption and illicit financing and,  improve policies and procedures for the investigation and prosecution of complex organized and financial crime cases.

Organized crime, including money laundering and illicit financing, are prevalent criminal activities in Iraq which led to a prevalent atmosphere of corruption and impunity, and constitute a major impediment to Iraq’s economic recovery, stability and development. Improving related policies and procedures and capacities of judges to investigate such major crimes to hold perpetrators accountable performs a crucial part for being able to restore effective institutions in Iraq.

The Iraqi law follows the tradition of the French/Egyptian system. The investigating judge is by law the investigating authority. Investigations by the police require general approval and supervision by investigating judges. In practice, investigations are often micromanaged by investigating judges, usually by phone and further tasked and approved by letters sent back and forth between police investigators and investigating judges. Most initiatives by the police in investigations require prior approval of an investigating judge. However, in general they do not venture out and maintain a physical presence in the crime scenes etc. They later rehear in their courthouses the suspects and witnesses, review other evidence and the dossier sent by the police (in so-called investigative hearings). Raising capacities of the police will not yield desired results if investigating judges are not part of the process. Cases reach trial courts only through investigating judges. Thus, it is crucial to link capacity building for judges as well. As such Investigating judges must be skilled and knowledgeable in investigating financial crimes, and likewise be familiar with and have trust in the capacity of the police who assist them in their investigations and often this may be challenging in Iraq. In order to achieve and sustain progress from such skill building efforts it is also critical to ensure that necessary policies and procedures are also in place. 

Where appropriate project activities will also endeavour to involve police officers in judges’ trainings and relevant capacity development activities in order to promote enhanced partnerships between investigative judges and the police.

Objectives:

Overall the proposed scoping assessment serves three main objectives and it will: 

1. Help set the baseline for the project to measure/ appraise it outcomes.
2. Allow UNDP to use the assessment to develop a much-needed policy document identifying the policies and procedures that require improvement for the investigation of complex organised and financial crime cases. It will be used for advocacy with the senior officials of the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) and other key interlocutors in the justice sector.
3. Identify/ prioritise reach and sequence of proposed training activities, level of trainings e.g. advanced or basic level) and topical priorities for the training modules / curriculum.  

Since the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) will be the main beneficiary of the project, the baseline assessment is conducted to determine the following:

Firstly, determine which judges shall be taught/ upskilled and otherwise supported and the depth of the support to be provided.  For example, the assessment could come to the conclusion that all judges of Iraq should be taught about financial crimes but then only at basic level; or only a handful of selected judges should receive extensive training to prepare them to act as expert judge to investigate major financial crimes in Iraq or other alternative conclusions to help inform the above mentioned three objectives of the assessment.

Secondly, the baseline assessment shall also review existing policies, procedures and capacities of the judiciary (mainly investigating judges, but also prosecutors and judicial investigators) in the investigation and adjudication of complex organised and financial crime cases.

Thirdly, noting that project’s main target audience will be investigating judges and their collaboration with police units during investigations of organised and financial crimes, the  assessment  will also include police capacities and how judges are informed and able to instruct and guide  police officers to utilise their insights and capacities to build solid cases.

The project must insofar collaborate with the parallel INL-funded ICITAP project supporting investigative capacities of the police. The assessment shall also determine a baseline of current judges’ capacities and utilise practices from which project’s quantitative indicators can be further reviewed and refined to measure the overall results of the project.

Please also refer Annex 1 – Baseline Assessment ToR

Scoping Work, Role and Responsibilities

UNDP had identified the requirement to hire a short – term expert as the Team Leader to lead and guide the small team of experts to implement the assessment.

The Team Leader will be an International Expert with strong professional experience / expertise in the Criminal Justice Sector and/ or complex organize and financial crime investigations with considerable international exposure, who has experience in the conduct of assessments of this nature. Previous experience in Iraq or in the Middle East Region and knowledge of the Arabic Language will be an added advantage.

The Team Leader will be responsible for the overall management of a small team of specialists as follows:

• Justice Sector Expert (National or International ): with specific expertise / knowledge of the Iraqi Criminal Justice System and with strong liaison/ networking capacities with the Iraqi Justice Sector and the Higher Judicial Council and Arabic and English Language proficiency are essential.

• Financial Crimes Investigation Specialist (International): with a strong professional experience/ expertise in financial crime investigations. Previous experience in Iraq or in the Middle East Region and knowledge of the Arabic Language will be an added advantage.

Working closely with the afore mentioned  small team of experts the Team Leader will  lead the overall implementation of the Assessment including in the finalization of the desk review, stakeholder/ key informant interviews and the writing of the comprehensive assessment report with key findings and recommendations They will be responsible for task managing and delegating responsibilities to rest of the Experts Team in the timely delivery of the overall assessment. 

The Team Leader will work in close consultation and under the overall oversight of the SSR/RoL Programme Manager and the Senior Criminal Justice Advisor. UNDP Team will also provide translation and other logistical support to the Team Leader and the Experts Team.  Annex 1 – ToR – Baseline Assessment

Scope of Work and Key Deliverables:

Assessment Duration:

• Total Assessment duration: approximately 1 November 2020 to 31 January 2021. 
• Total Number of Days: approximately 60 working days

The Team Leader will be responsible for the overall coordination and quality control of the deliverables of the Assessment.

Qualifications, skills and professional experience of the Team Leader should include the following:

• University degree or specialised diploma or equivalent years of professional experience in subjects related to criminal investigations, policing, criminology, peace, justice and security, and/or conflict studies, strategy/risk management or other related and relevant subject areas.
• At least 10 years professional experience in the justice, security, or related sectors and 5 years professional experience related to criminal investigations on complex organised and financial crimes.
• Professional experience of at least 2 years in the Middle East Region is desirable.
• Experience working in post-conflict environments and leading/managing a small team of experts is essential.
• Previous experience in analysis and conducting assessments is essential.
• Previous work experience in Iraq is an added advantage.
• Proven capacity to engage with government and international stakeholders with strong liaison capacities and experience is essential.
• Excellent written and spoken English language skills are essential. 
• Knowledge of Arabic language skills (written and spoken) will constitute a strong advantage.

Schedule and Method of Payment

Payments will be made upon satisfactory completion of the deliverables outlined in the table above

( scope of work and key deliverables) and, upon the submission and acceptance of each key deliverable. 

The payments will be made in 3 installments subject to UNDP procurement procedures.

First payment – 20% of the total amount upon satisfactory completion and acceptance of the Final Methodology and the Action Plan.

Second payment – 40% of the total amount upon satisfactory completion and acceptance of the Desk Review Report and the Completion of all Stakeholder Interviews and corresponding Interview Reports

Third payment – 40% of the total amount upon satisfactory completion and acceptance of the Final Comprehensive Assessment Report with Key Findings and Recommendations.

SELECTION CRITERIA

 Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

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 would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The application should contain the following:

1. A technical proposal with a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
2. The technical proposal should also contain personal CV , indicating education background/professional qualifications, all experience, furthermore, providing duly filled the form of  Letter of Confirming Interest and Availability whereby includes financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per deliverables mentioned in this TOR, in addition to  the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

The detailed terms of reference and the Letter of Confirming Interest and Availability form are uploaded in documents section,

Please note you can upload only one document in the online application, therefore combine the CV, and the Letter of Confirmation and Availability as one pdf and upload it accordingly.moreover, please note that failure to submit required documents by UNDP will lead to rejection of your offer.