Local/National Consultant to Develop the Judicial Staff Regulation

Background

The Strategic Plan 2019-2023 of the judiciary identifies strengthening the internal governance of judiciary as a key objective. To achieve this aim, the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) has taken steps such as the introduction of Policy Guidelines for Registrars and Chief Administrators which introduced a new regime of internal governance within the Courts. A key next step in this strategic objective is the introduction of a new Judicial Staff Regulation to replace the current Judicial Staff Regulation to ensure that staff issues are governed as per best practice and in line with existing laws related to employment.

The current Judicial Staff Regulation was adopted in 2011, which has been subjected to several amendments from DJA as well as the Supreme Court over the years. The Regulation is based on the Civil Service Regulation of 2010 which the Commission has repealed in 2014 and therefore the current regulation also requires to be revised according to new developments in employment legislations. Currently the document falls short in meeting the judicial and legislative developments in the field of employment law and requires further revisions and improvement in order to ensure suitability for the employee-employer related situations specific to the Judicial Sector.

UNDP has been supporting judicial reform and strengthening capacity of the judiciary over the years. Training and capacity building programmes have been conducted on various aspects to enhance governance and access to justice. In view of the existing needs, UNDP under its Integrated Governance Programme (IGP) together with DJA is seeking the support of a local consultant to draft the Judicial Staff Regulation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of the technical committee (the committee to be established for the purposes of the consultancy which includes staff from various departments and courts of the Judiciary, DJA and UNDP) , DJA and UNDP, the consultant will draft the new Judicial Staff Regulation which will replace the current Judicial Staff Regulation (including its amendments) in implementation since 2011. The tasks to be undertaken by the consultant under the Terms of Reference include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following;

1. Conduct a desk review of the existing legal framework and relevant legislations /regulations and practices related to the Judicial Staff Regulation , judicial and legislative developments in the field of employment law in the country and submit an inception report including a timeline for the drafting of the regulation;
2. Review existing assessments, consultation reports, relevant circular (including Aamu Sitees) and organize and conduct online consultation meetings with relevant stakeholders including but not limited to  the Supreme Court, High Court, Family Court, Superior Courts, Magistrate Courts, Department of Judicial Administration and Judicial Service Commission;
3. Based on the consultation meetings, policy directives from the technical committee and DJA and based on the inception report, draft the new Judicial Staff Regulation (including required annexes);
4. Conduct a final consultation meeting for the regulation with relevant stakeholders;
5. In collaboration with DJA, identify implications of the regulation on employees once enacted and recommend ways forward by proposing a roadmap for implementing the regulation which includes mitigation measures;
6. Conduct a training on the regulation for the relevant staff.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

All documents shall be submitted as stipulated below and all documents will be submitted as drafts and upon review by the technical committee, DJA and UNDP, the consultant shall revise the draft documents. Once, the revised reports are accepted by technical committee, DJA and UNDP, they will be termed as final documents for the consultancy.

The consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables;

1. Inception Report: The inception report shall include a summary of regulations and policies that currently exist in relation to the Judicial Staff Regulation. It should also reflect the proposed policy options for the regulation, including constraints with regard to the implementation of the said regulation and a clear timeline for the drafting of the regulation.  
2. Drafting of regulation: The drafts of the regulation should be completed as per the timeline identified in the inception report. The consultant should conduct relevant consultations during the drafting stage with stakeholders identified in the inception report and with others if required. The drafts will be written in Dhivehi and in a format and style determined by the DJA and will be translated into English once they have been finalized and endorsed. Final draft should include annexes and forms where required and shall be thoroughly vetted by obtaining feedback from stakeholders.
3. Final consultation meeting and the final draft of the regulation: The consultant shall facilitate a validation workshop for relevant stakeholders on the regulation, incorporate any necessary changes and reviews identified in the consultation workshop. The final draft of the regulation should be submitted to DJA and UNDP once it is reviewed by all relevant stakeholders following consultation.
4. Roadmap: The implementation plan should identify the impacts of the regulation on stakeholders and make recommendations on mitigation measures with indications of responsible parties and timelines for measures. The document should be prepared in Dhivehi and submitted to DJA and UNDP and if required by DJA and UNDP, the plan should also be translated into English.
5. Training: The consultant shall facilitate a training on the regulation for Human Resources Staff of the Judiciary.

The following table shows an indication of the duration for the deliverables;

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant is expected to work with the technical committee established for the consultancy which includes staff from various departments and courts of the Judiciary, DJA and UNDP. The consultant will be accountable to the Programme Analyst of IGP, for each deliverable as stipulated in the proposal. Fortnightly meetings will be held with the DJA and UNDP. A briefing and debriefing meeting will be organized with UNDP senior management at the beginning and end of assignment.

Duration of the Work

This assignment will approximately take 8 weeks and is expected to start mid-January 2021. The consultant should come up with a clear timeline while submitting the proposal taking into consideration the estimated time durations for each deliverable as stipulated above.

Duty Station: Home-based

Competencies

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications of the Successful Individual Consultant:The consultant is expected to fulfill the following criteria in terms of the expertise and qualifications;• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Law • A minimum of 6 years of professional experience in the justice sector • A minimum of 5 years of experience in development of legal frameworks, regulations etc for justice sector institutions• Experience in developing roadmaps/plans is desirable• Experience in facilitation of public consultations is desirable• Past experience and familiarity with concepts on human resource management / administration is desirable  

Language requirement

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Dhivehi is required

Application process

Interested individuals must submit the following as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A letter indicating why the candidate considers himself/herself suitable for the required consultancy
• Submission of an updated detailed Personal CV and P11 form which can be downloaded from  http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc. The CV must capture all past experience from similar projects.
• At least three references from recent previous jobs and three references contact details including phone number and email
• Financial proposal indicating Monthly consultancy fee in Maldivian Rufiyaa.

Schedule of payment: The consultant will be paid in installments as per the deliverables.   

Note: Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into one single file.