International Consultant to support the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro in alignment of the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence with child rights related international and regional in

Consultant Programme & Policy

Contract

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Background and Context

The process of accession to the European Union drives Montenegro to make significant efforts in the field of alignment of its legislation with the international and regional human rights standards.

Montenegro has ratified all international human rights documents related to violence against women in general and child maltreatment. In line with these international documents, Montenegro has taken important legislative steps to ensure investigation and prosecution of cases of domestic violence. However, monitoring bodies on implementation of international treaties such as GREVIO, in their reports on Montenegro express concerns about the judicial practice regarding domestic violence cases. In addition, EU progress report to Montenegro for 2020 state that ‘Gender-based violence and violence against children remain issues of serious concern’. [1]

The Law on Protection from Domestic Violence, adopted in July 2010, contains a broad definition of domestic violence, prescribing more immediate and effective measures for the protection from violence and measures of support to victims including the right to psycho-social support, free legal aid, social and medical care, material assistance and accommodation. In practice, during the implementation of the law, fines and conditional sentences are more often imposed than imprisonment, reducing the impact of sentences on perpetrators of violence. Instead, such punishments create additional insecurity for women and children who are victims of violence, having in mind their personal safety, as well as the creation of financial difficulties in the case of fines . This is the reason GREVIO strongly encourages the Montenegrin authorities to ensure, through legislative measures and effective training of the representatives of the prosecution and judiciary, that penalties and measures imposed in domestic violence cases are effective, proportionate and deterring, harmless for the victims and their children.[2] In addition, it could be assumed that prosecution and courts often fail to recognize the position of children in domestic violence cases, resulting with lesser qualification of deeds, or with denying children’s status of a victim, which on other hand impacts the outcome of procedures, especially with respect to sentencing of defendants.

The Ministry of Justice of Montenegro is in the process of amending the Law on protection form domestic violence. As child rights guaranties are an essential part of the Law on protection from domestic violence, it will be necessary to complement this process with assessing the child’s position, status and rights provided before misdemeanours and criminal proceedings with regard to relevant UN, COE and EU instruments and standards and to provide recommendations for the amendments of Law on the protection from domestic violence .

Purpose and Objective

The purpose of this assignment is to improve the status and rights of children victims and witnesses of domestic violence in Montenegro`s legislation line with UN, CoE and EU instruments and standards in the area of child rights. The objective of this activity is to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice in the process of revision of the Law on protection from domestic violence towards improving rights and treatment of children in court and administrative procedures.

Methodology and Technical Approach

The methodology will include:

• desk review of the relevant international and regional standards, legislative and policy documents;

• consultations with the Ministry of Justice, judiciary and UNICEF on the content and structure of the Analysis;

• development of the Analysis with findings and recommendations for the amendments of the Law in the area of protection of child victims and witnesses of domestic violence in line with UN, CoE standards and EU legislation and policies;

• presentation of the Analysis under the lead of the Ministry of Justice to a professional audience.

The Consultant is expected to work both in the field and from home. Further details are presented in the section below “Activities and Tasks”.

Activities and Tasks

The activities as part of this assignment will be conducted in close cooperation with the UNICEF’s Child Protection Team.

Under the supervision of UNICEF Child Protection Officer, the consultant is expected to:

Tasks

Location

Number of days and Timeframe

Desk Review of the Law on the Protection of Domestic Violence, Criminal Code of Montenegro, Criminal Procedure Code, Act on Treatment of Juvenile in Criminal Procedures, Family Law of Montenegro (2016), SoP on multi-sectoral protection of children from violence (2020), MoH Guidelines on protection of children and adolescents from violence and exploitation (2019); EU legislation and Directives related to the rights of child victims, witnesses and offenders; Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); Optional Protocols (in particular 2nd) General Comments No.12 (children's right to be heard); General Comment No. 14 (the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration); CRC General Comment No.8 on the Right of the Child to Protection from Corporal Punishment, CRC General Comment No. 24, replacing General Comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice; CRC Committee recommendations for Montenegro; European Convention on the Exercise of Child Rights; Council of Europe`s Guidelines on Child Friendly Justice; European Convention on Human Rights, The CoE Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), the CoE Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention), UN Guidelines in Matters involving children victims and witnesses of crime, UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (the Lanzarote Convention).

Home based

7 days

By mid-January 2021

Communicate with the representatives of the Ministry of Justice, judiciary and UNICEF to receive in-depth guidance on the development of Analysis and agree methodological approach

Home based

3 day

By mid-January 2021

Develop the draft Analysis with findings and recommendations on the amendments of the Law on the protection of domestic violence from the perspective of children victims and witnesses of crime

Home based

12 days

By end-January 2021

Integrate comments and finalize the Analysis

Home Based

2 days

By mid- February 2021

Present the Analysis to professional audiences

Home Based

1 days

By end February 2021

Total number of working days

25 days

Key Deliverables and Timeframe

This assignment is expected to commence on 30 December 2020. The consultant is expected to spend a total of 25 working days on this assignment, working from home and conducting field visits.

The Consultant is expected to produce the following key deliverables:

Key Deliverables

Timeframe

Develop the draft Analysis with findings and recommendations on the amendments of the Law on the protection of domestic violence from the perspective of children victims and witnesses of crime.

By end January 2021

Presentation of the Analysis findings and recommendations

By end February 2021

Management and Organisation

Management: The Consultant will be supervised by the UNICEF Child Protection Officer.

Organization: An International Consultant will be required for this consultancy. If more than one consultant is engaged for the assignment, the fee for each consultant will be negotiated depending on their qualifications, the scope of work required from each consultant and the duration of their engagement.

Schedule: This assignment will commence on 30 December 2020.

Qualifications/specialized knowledge/experience required to complete the task:

The Consultant is expected to have the following qualifications/specialized knowledge/experience required to complete the task:

Education:

• Master’s degree in law or social science;
• PhD in law or equivalent diploma will be considered as an advantage;

Experience:

Proven experience of Ten (10) or more years of experience in human rights including child rights;

• Experience in developing research papers and analysis from the criminal legislation and procedures with specific knowledge of child protection field;
• Background /experience in policy process, including reviews and formulation with evidence of similar assignments in other countries;
• Familiarity with legal context of Montenegro in particular with criminal law legislation and judicial context will be considered as an advantage;
• Knowledge of the EU Acquis, CoE and UN standards in child rights in criminal proceedings,
• Previous work experience with UN/UNICEF or other international organization will be considered as an advantage;

Language:

• Excellent command of English.
• Knowledge of local language would be considered as advantage.

Other:

• Excellent writing skills, presentation skills, strong strategic and analytical skills, computer skills, negotiations skills, interactive and interpersonal communication skills;
• Ability to work with Government Officials at national and sub-national levels;
• Demonstrate abilities to meet deadlines;

Application procedure:

• To apply for the vacant position please submit P-11 form through “apply” button;

• Candidates are requested to submit a financial offer as a separate document consisting of a daily professional fee, two travel costs and DSA costs for field work up to 3 days/each visit to be spend in Podgorica, Montenegro.

Selection Method:

All applicants will be screened against qualifications and requirements set above. Candidates fully meeting all the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below.

1. Technical Criteria - Interview – 70 % of total evaluation– max. 70 points

• Education: 10 points
• Previous experience: 20 points
• Technical questions at the interview: 30 points
• Other: 10 points

Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the technical part (who will score at least 49 points) will be qualified for considering for financial proposal evaluation.

2. Financial Criteria - 30 % of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

• Financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30].

REMARK:

Mandatory learning: Upon concluding the recruitment process and prior to signing the contract, all Consultants and Individual Contractors, including those working from home, must complete the following three online courses

• Ethics and Integrity at UNICEF
• Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority
• Sexual Exploitation Abuse (PSEA)

​In addition, Consultants and Individual Contractors must complete the following course before commencement of any travel on behalf of UNICEF.

• BSAFE security training

The courses can be found on the following link: UNICEF Mandatory Training/Learning Courses​ .

Budget and Remuneration

• Payment schedule

The payments will be made upon successful completion of the deliverables and submission of invoices.

• Recourse

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

• Budget and Remuneration

Interested contractors are requested to submit their financial offer consisting of fee for the services to be provided, travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities to apply.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process;

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[1] Grevio report for Montenegro, 198.

[2] Ibid, 199.

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Added 3 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org