Child-friendly Legal Aid Standards and Procedural Guidelines in Jordan Consultant

Terms of references

Child-friendly Legal Aid Standards and Procedural Guidelines in Jordan

Terre des hommes (Tdh) Jordan delegation is seeking to contract one national legal expert, registered with the Jordanian Bar Association, that display the human, ethical and technical capacities to shape a comprehensive set of child-friendly legal aid standards and Procedural guidelines.

I. Organization and Context background information

Terre des hommes (Tdh) is a leading Swiss child-relief agency with a strong mandate worldwide on restorative juvenile justice. Tdh Jordan is a well-recognized actor in country with a long and fruitful collaboration vis a vis justice and child protection stakeholders and national institutions on the policy, capacity building and specialized service provision for children and youth.

The Tdh Access to Justice (A2J) Program is one of the key foundations of Tdh’s interventions across the world. In Jordan it is active since 2015. The A2J Program’s Strategic Plan creates a comprehensive framework for action that combines axes on operations, advocacy and policy, research and quality and accountability, with a view to creating lasting and meaningful change in the lives of children in conflict and in contact with the law, where their rights are respected and upheld.

Within the A2J Program, the Tdh (i) promotes and supports non-custodial measures (diversion and alternatives to detention), (ii) provides specialized custodial care for children deprived of liberty, (iii) supports the improvement of prevention of juvenile delinquency and recidivism and (iv) mainstreams a comprehensive child-friendly reintegration approach across our interventions.

Rational of the assignment

Children come into contact (victims, witness) and conflict (offenders) with the law for various reasons – as defendants or witnesses in criminal proceedings; as parties in family proceedings; as victims of physical or psychological violence, sexual abuse or other crimes or rights violations. The outcomes of these cases can be hugely significant for the children’s lives in both the long term and the short term. They can determine whether the children go into detention, access alternatives to detention, whom they will live with, what contact they can have with their parents and siblings, if where they will access education or not, etc..

Most children who are in contact and in conflict with the law find the actual experience of legal proceedings confusing at best and a source of fear, distress and secondary victimization at worst. It is not unusual for them to find it difficult to communicate with the adults involved, to mistrust police and judges, to lack basic information and understanding about processes and procedures, and to face discrimination because of their age, gender or other characteristics such as living and working on the street. Recalling painful events can be very stressful for child victims, witnesses and offenders, and if the legal procedure is not child-sensitive it may have long-term and harmful consequences for their recovery and reintegration. However, usually because of specialized knowledge and/or resources, legal systems do not enable children to participate in proceedings in a safe, meaningful and dignified manner.

One important building block for a child-friendly justice system is for children to have access to expert, specialized and trusted legal professionals. Such lawyers can make an enormous difference to a child’s experience of the justice system and to the outcome of the case.

In Jordan, while the country is progressively investing in improving comprehensively the child-friendly justice system, child-friendly legal aid standards are not yet available neither procedural guidelines advising the different steps, challenges and possibilities children may face or have during judicial procedures.

Tdh Jordan counts with the concrete expertise and capacity to organize and launch a participatory-based process with all relevant actors and stakeholders in country to come up with a comprehensive policy guidance: “Child-friendly Legal Aid Standards and Procedural Guidelines in Judicial Procedures” which aims at providing a strong and practical framework for action that promotes and supports children’s access to justice in country.

II. Objective and deliverables of the assignment

Under this consultancy contract, Tdh requires the services of a specialized national legal consultant to develop a high-quality policy guidance: “Child-friendly Legal Aid Standards and Procedural Guidelines in Judicial Procedures”. The consultant will work in close coordination with Tdh team.

Specific emphasis should be put on international, regional and national legal frameworks that are relevant to the specific topic at stake. The four general principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: the right to non-discrimination; the right to life, survival and development; the right to be heard; and the principle that the best interests of children should be a primary consideration in decision making that affects them. It is very relevant to unpack the aforementioned principles to practically informed the work of legal practitioners when providing legal aid and how these principles are present and should apply to different stages of the judicial and procedures driven by the child’s lawyer

The policy guidance under this consultancy would then comprise an analysis of the child-friendly legal standards to be met in different judicial stages. As a minimum:

• Arrest

• Settling,

• investigation phase (evidence collection, testimonies, etc.)

• during trial, including pre-trial detention

• deprivation of liberty, after conviction by the judges

• alternatives to detention.

Key themes and challenges that arise in providing child-friendly legal aid to children would need to be analysed and contextualized. For instance (non-exhaustive list): legal competence, specialization and professionals’ skills providing legal aid to children, children’s views and voice are heard and given due weight throughout the legal process, child-sensitive communication, privacy and confidentiality, avoidance of secondary victimization, multi-sectoral approach: collaboration with other sectoral professionals, etc.

The process of development would require engaging the Bar Association, relevant ministries, other (I)NGOs specially those providing legal aid in country. It would be essential to bring the voice of children to the process so to not only rely on the legal framework and adults involved in the process, but to know, acknowledge and act upon children’s experience when they are the clients.

The policy guidance would be used as a training, monitoring and guidance tool for justice and legal practitioners in country when addressing and making legal intervention for children offenders, victims and witnesses making sure the appropriate standards apply and abide to, and children are treated fairly, with respect, dignity and equality.

Kindly note that the technical proposal to be submitted should include a concrete specification and details of the aforementioned elements. It should be practical and straight forward but comprehensive, technically solid and well-grounded.

III. Key deliverables

Expected deliverables are the following:

• 1 inception report

• 1 desk review on the topics of the consultancy. As above outlined. Topics will be further refined in collaboration with Tdh team.

• A detailed report, including the scripts, on focus groups discussion and consultations/interviews with key stakeholders.

• One ‘Child-friendly Legal Aid Standards and Procedural Guidelines in Judicial Procedures’ consisting of (among others):

o Findings/analysis of the desk review

o Findings/analysis of the consultations and interviews

o Utilized methodologies, including validation sessions with key stakeholders.

o Lists of contents and sources

o A policy guidelines.

• 1 (at least) presentation in front of key stakeholders, and specifically the bar association.

• A final consultancy report.

IV. Modalities and Timeline

The consultant is expected to propose at the moment of the submission of the proposal a detailed methodology of the action. The proposed methodology will be revised if necessary, in agreement with Tdh and then consolidated in a Workplan. The Consultant is expected to respect the workplan and the timeline.

Out of a larger methodology and modality of work, the consultant is expected to perform:

a. Desk review on the consultancy’s topic. Tdh will support with the collection of key documents for this desk review stage.

b. Focus Groups Discussions/Interviews with key actors, including children and their families. A concrete list to be proposed in the technical proposal. The process will be accompanied and facilitated by Tdh.

c. Based on the processes mentioned above and in consultation Tdh teams, prepare a comprehensive list of contents to be included in the “Child-friendly Legal Aid Standards and Procedural Guidelines in Judicial Procedures” as well as the participatory methodology to be applied with all the key participants that need to be involved. The outline of the full document needs to be validated by Tdh prior to proceed with the following stages. Draft specific, detailed and practical policy guidance (in English only: “Child-friendly Legal Aid Standards and Procedural Guidelines in Judicial Procedures”.

The consultant will strictly follow the work plan and the time schedule agreed with Tdh in undertaking the consultancy assignment.

An appropriate methodology will have to be determined by the consultant and submitted with the consultancy technical proposal. It will be reviewed by Tdh and adjust accordingly with the consultant if needed prior to the signature of the consultancy contract.

The consultant is expected to use own computer and other equipment required for the task.

The duration of the consultancy contract shall be for a maximum of 25 working days, between 17^th November 2020 and 31^st December 2020. Final deliverable shall be submitted (in English) on the 24^th December 2020 at the latest. Possibility of extension will be discussed with the selected candidate if needed.

Tdh Jordan will cover the transportation of the consultant in the country. This consultancy does not cover for international travel, allowances or accommodation expenses of the expert(s).

The proposal should include the availability of the candidates to comply with the proposed schedule. The required final report should be submitted by the 24^th December 2020.

Tdh reserves the right to either handle the training as one package or to divide the assignment into separate training services.

Tdh reserves the right to terminate the service contract with the consultant if the deliverables are not satisfactory.

V. Requirements for the expert

· A lawyer regularly registered at the Jordan Bar Association.

· At least 6-9 years of prior work experience in dealing with legal aid, justice procedures involving children.

· Proven sound experience on drafting similar deliverables (providing concrete examples and when possible excerpts/samples).

· Excellent written and speaking skills in English and in Arabic.

VI. Application procedure

Consultants/firms that meet the requirements should submit expression of interest, which should include the following:

1. Cover letter including the consultant’s/firm’s suitability for the assignment and current contact information (max. 1 page)

2. Include 1-2 samples of previous similar work

3. Technical offer; detailed response to the Terms of Refence herein, with specific focus addressing the purpose and objectives of the assignment, methodology to be used and key selection criteria (max. 7 pages)

4. Financial offer; detailed budget breakdown based on expected daily rates and initial work plan. (max. 2 pages)

5. Initial draft of the proposed work plan (max. 4 pages)

Prerequisites for accepting financial offers:

• Prices are inclusive of value added tax. The offered prices will be subject to a 5% deduction for income tax.

• Prices are to be submitted in JOD and are valid for the duration of the consultancy from the applications’ closing date.

• The quotation must be detailed and based on the work mechanism proposed by the consultant.

All offers must be e-mailed to [email protected] no later than Wednesday 4^st November 23.59 pm (Jordan time). Please add to the subject of the e-mail: Child-friendly Legal Aid Standards and Procedural Guidelines in Jordan

Only proposals in English and that include all the required documents will be assessed. Only contact short-listed candidates will be contacted.

VII. Ethical considerations **

The consultant/consulting agency must sign the Terre des hommes Child Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct and be willing to adhere to its principles and expected practices. If a breach of the policy or code of conduct takes place the consultancy will be terminated immediately without any financial burden on Tdh.

VIII. Disclaimer on copyright, data protection

All documents, project designs, drawings, data and information shall be treated as confidential and shall not without the written approval of Tdh be made available to any third party. In addition, the consultant(s) formally undertakes not to disclose any parts of the confidential information and shall not, without the written approval of Tdh be made available to any third party. The utilization of the report is solely at the decision and discretion of Tdh. All the documents containing both raw data/materials provided by Tdh and final report, both soft and hard copies are to be returned to Tdh upon completion of the assignment. All documentation and reports written as, and as a result of the research or otherwise related to it, shall remain the property of Tdh. No part of the report shall be reproduced except with the prior, expressed and specific written permission of Tdh.