National Legal Specialist (Individual Consultant) to conduct a Feasibility Study on proposed Version 2 of the E-Court system under the Supreme Court of the Philippines

According to the World Justice Project 2018 survey, 80% of Filipinos are denied access to justice. As revealed by a UNDP survey, this is largely due to: affordability; the lack of physical access to courts; and the lack of knowledge on the judiciary process, particularly for Overseas Filipino Workers, Persons with Disabilities, and indigent clients in the remote areas of the archipelago.[1] In addition to this, the judicial system has struggled with a sizable backlog of cases. In 2018, there were 741,509 pending cases in the Courts.[2] This number may have potentially increased given the Supreme Court’s need to suspend operations in March 2020 in compliance with the quarantine measures brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, which may continue into 2021. 

In response to the situation, the Supreme Court plans to step up efforts to establish an electronic court (eCourt) system. This system could potentially broaden access to justice for marginalised communities in remote areas, and at the same time, increase the speed and efficiency of justice in the ‘new normal’. This plan is not new. For the past 9 years, the Supreme Court has been attempting to rollout an eCourt system. However, the project encountered a number of difficulties in relation to the consultation process, choice of programming language, and transition plan, amongst others. Based on a recent assessment, the Supreme Court made the collective decision to build a new eCourt system from scratch under the EU GO-JUST programme phase II.

The Supreme Court now wishes to explore the possible ways by which it can develop the system, specifically through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) or a government financing partnership with UNDP, or a combination of both. However, a feasibility study must be conducted to first assess the appropriateness of these approaches on two levels.

The first is on the PPP process, given due consideration of the Supreme Court’s constitutional independence, and thus, it should not be covered by Republic Act No. 6957 or the BOT Law, as amended.

[1] https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/partnership/?p=33320.

[2] Supreme Court, The Judiciary Annual Report 2018 pg. 11.

The second is the appropriateness of the private sector’s sustainability models, which must provide economic benefit not only to the Supreme Court but also to the citizen, giving due respect to the principle of broadening access to justice for the poor and marginalised, and weighing the pros and cons this approach with the other modalities, namely the standard procurement process or a government-cost sharing partnership with UNDP.

UNDP is conducting a request for information (RFI) process separately to better understand the available and feasible options from the open market.  The results of this RFI process will also be analyzed and made available for the consultants selected from this process.

Institutional Arrangement

The Consultant will be coordinating and collaborating with the International Expert to draft the feasibility study and policy recommendations.

The Consultant shall report to the Institutions and Partnerships Team Leader of UNDP Philippines.  Deliverables will be reviewed by the Institution and Partnerships Programme Analyst and will be approved for payment by Programme Team Leader.

Duration of Assignment

The consultant shall render intermittent service, equivalent to 40 person days spread from 28 December, 2020 to 15 March 2021, to execute the scope of the tasks and deliverables indicated in this terms of reference.

Estimated 3 to 5 days lead time for UNDP or Project Implementing Partners is given to review outputs, give comments, certify approval/acceptance of outputs, etc

Duty Station and Travel 

The Contractor’s duty station is Manila.

• Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and declaration of State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines, all work of the Consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local government.
• No travel outside the duty station is required for this engagement

Scope of Plan of Proposal and Schedule of payment

The Consultant must send a financial proposal based on a lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs identified below. The total amount quoted shall include all costs components required to deliver the goods and services identified above, including professional fees, to be incurred by the Consultant in completing the assignment.

The contract price will be a fixed output-based price. Any deviations from the outputs and timelines as well will need to be agreed on between the between Consultant and the Institution and Partnerships Programme Team Leader.  Any changes will be implemented through the issuance of contract amendment.

Payments will be done upon satisfactory completion of the deliverables by target due dates. Outputs will be certified by the Institutions and Partnerships Programme Team Leader prior to payments.

The Consultant shall be part of a two-person team to draft a feasibility study that shall guide the Supreme Court’s decision on establishing an eCourt system in the Philippines. The objectives of the feasibility study are as follows:

To determine the feasibility for each of the 2 key modalities by which the Supreme Court might establish an eCourt system, namely:

• PPP: giving due consideration to the 1987 Constitution and the independence of the Supreme Court;
• Government Cost-Sharing arrangement with UNDP: giving due consideration to UNDP’s international experience in establishing E-Justice systems with other governments via cost-sharing agreements.

To determine the feasibility of proposed PPP models for the Philippine setting, giving due consideration to the following:

• Financial feasibility to the citizen and the Supreme Court for the medium and long-term, giving full respect to the principle of providing access to justice for the marginalised sectors of society.
• Appropriateness of the technical solution, given the existing technical capacity of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
• Compliance with privacy laws, the strength of cybersecurity measures, and extent to which it addresses previous issues.

The National Legal Specialist is expected to perform the following functions:

• Work and coordinate with the International Access to Justice Expert in drafting the feasibility study and policy recommendations in developing the eCourt system.
• To determine the feasibility for each of the 2 key modalities by which the Supreme Court might establish an E-Justice system, namely:

• PPP: giving due consideration to the 1987 Constitution and the independence of the Supreme Court;
• UNDP Financing Agreement with Government: giving due consideration to the 1977 Standard Basic Assistance Agreement, and national resolutions. 

• To participate in the analysis of RFI being conducted by UNDP on this subject.

• To draft recommendations to the Supreme Court on the pros and cons of developing the eCourt system through public procurement, PPP, or UNDP cost-sharing partnership.
• To proof-read the overall draft of the feasibility study.
• To present findings of the document to the Supreme Court when required.

Corporate Competences

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN mission, vision, values and ethical standards
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Other Competencies

• Ability to work in close collaboration with a group of national and international experts, to meet strict deadlines and plan the work according to priorities;
• Initiative, good analytical skills, mature judgment and ability to work under tight schedule while respecting deadlines achievement, ethics and honesty;
• Ability to establish effective working relations in a multicultural team environment
• Strong initiative and desire to succeed, accountable and willingness to be pro-active in identifying

suitable companies and engaging in appropriate business opportunities

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Builds strong relationships with internal and external clients
• Demonstrates capacity to plan, organize and execute effectively
• Encourages risk-taking in the pursuit of creativity and innovation
• Excellent written communication and presentation/public speaking skills in English, focus on results, ability to interact productively in a teamwork environment;

Proven experience in dialoguing with senior level government and private sector executives

Candidates will be evaluated based on the Combined Rating methodology:

• Technical qualifications = 70%
• Financial Proposal =    30%

For the evaluation of the Technical Proposal, the selection of the successful consultant must be based on the following qualifications (with the appropriate obtainable points):

Applicants who will only receive 70 points from the assessment of the CV will be qualified for the assessment of the Financial Proposal. 

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Interested applicants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document. 

1. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references; and
2. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP; Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

Interested applicants to note that personal Medical/health insurance (to be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense) is mandatory for the issuance of contracts. Upon award of the contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during the contract duration.

The following templates / Annexes and IC General Terms & Conditions can be downloaded from http://gofile.me/6xdJm/bE9TCw8fU:

• General Terms and Conditions for Individual Contract
• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability
• P-11 form

In view of the volume of applications, UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified