Legal Specialist

Organizational Setting

The FAO Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean (SLC) was established in 1996 and is based in Barbados. It is headed by a Sub-Regional Representative/Coordinator and is staffed by a Multidisciplinary Team and an Administrative Unit. SLC supports 13 member countries; Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Moreover, FAO Representations are present in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname; Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas. FAO SLC will implement several national technical cooperation programmes with countries across the OECS region in the area of competitive and resilient value chain development. These projects aim to strengthen and build high potential agricultural value chains at the national and regional level to improve farmer livelihoods, increase food security, and contribute to the reduction in national food import bills. Given that access to land is a common challenge and limiting factor when designing and implementing agricultural value chain interventions, each project will include a component focused on the strengthening of agricultural land banks. In Grenada, activities will focus on providing legal technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and Cooperatives for the expansion of the country’s pilot agricultural land bank, building on the results achieved to date. The overall goal is to promote food and nutrition security and support the sustainable management of rural lands, in particular idle and underutilized lands. This project component also aims to strengthen the capacity of land administration staff, thereby promoting good governance of land tenure. One of the activities under the project component related to land banks concerns the review of the existing land leases and land acquisition policy and legislation with reference to private lands, in order to identify potential legal issues, any relevant legislation to be revised, and the proposed government role in the management of a land bank on private lands. Based on this analysis, amended legislation and model lease agreements will be drafted.

Reporting Lines

This consultancy will be conducted under the guidance and supervision of the Legal Officer of the Development Law Service (LEGN) and in coordination with the Land Tenure and Natural Resources Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (RLC), International Land Administration/Cadastral Expert, national project coordinator and other project consultants and personnel.

Technical Focus

This consultancy will identify and analyse relevant legislation on land acquisition and land leases in Grenada for the expansion of the agricultural land bank to private lands, including the proposed government role in managing a land bank on private lands. It will provide recommendations and draft amendments on legislation and model lease agreements.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Propose a work plan • Conduct desk research of the legislation on land tenure and land acquisition in Grenada, with reference private land, to identify any gaps, issues or opportunities that are likely to affect the leases to be administered under the agricultural land bank if it is expanded to private land; review similar legislation of other States, when applicable. • Participate in consultation and validation meetings or workshops as needed. • Identify gender-related gaps and develop gender mainstreaming recommendations in the legal and policy analysis, in collaboration with identified gender expert(s) in SLC/RLC; • Develop policy recommendations for the management of an agricultural land bank on private lands, and for formally establishing the land bank within national law; • Prepare a national legal report incorporating the abovementioned areas and the comments of the Legal Officer of LEGN, the Land Tenure and Natural Resources Officer, and the other relevant units.; • Prepare model lease agreements for various scenarios on private land, taking into consideration existing land bank lease agreements; • Provide other related legal support as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in Law • At least 5 years of legal professional experience, preferably with expertise in land law and gender mainstreaming. • Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish for Consultants; Working knowledge of English for PSA Subscribers.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus • Teamwork • Communication • Building Effective Relationships • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Desirable postgraduate course or diploma in land tenure law or administrative law • Desirable experiences and knowledge of women's land rights • Demonstrated excellent communication skills both oral and in writing • Experience supporting consultations and engaging stakeholders is desired • Experience with gender analyses of legislation is an asset • Ability to work in an international environment with multicultural teams is desired • Experience in legal diagnosis and drafting legislation • Experience in drafting leasing agreements