1.1       Purpose of the Mission

The purpose of this assignment is to conduct a comprehensive diagnostic of the barriers affecting access to justice in Libya, with a focus on systemic, institutional, and citizen-level dynamics. This activity forms the analytical foundation of the “EU Support to Rule of Law in Libya – Mithaq” project, implemented by Expertise France in partnership with national justice institutions and with funding from the European Union.

The diagnostic will be led by a multidisciplinary team of two senior experts—a Justice Sector Specialist and a Sociologist—with proven experience in legal reform, institutional assessments, and citizen-centered access-to-justice programming in fragile or transitional contexts. Together, they will produce a validated, evidence-based Access-to-Justice Diagnostic Report that identifies gaps, reform entry points, and recommendations grounded in the Libyan context.

This assessment directly supports the project’s Inception Phase by:

·         Establishing a shared understanding of justice system bottlenecks, especially for vulnerable groups (women, youth, persons with disabilities),

·         Anchoring future interventions in reliable field evidence and citizen perspectives,

·         Strengthening partner institutions’ ownership and alignment with EU strategic priorities,

·         Guiding the refinement of activities, partnerships, and sequencing for the full implementation phase.

The diagnostic will inform both technical assistance priorities and civic engagement strategies, contributing to the broader goals of justice sector transformation, transparency, and institutional trust-building across Libya.

1.2       Strategic Context

Libya’s justice system operates in a context shaped by prolonged fragmentation, weakened institutional capacities, and a persistent deficit in public trust. Multiple legal frameworks coexist without full harmonization, while regional disparities and limited operational coordination undermine citizens’ ability to access timely and equitable justice services. Despite past efforts by national actors and international partners, structural barriers continue to affect service delivery and public confidence—particularly among marginalized groups such as women, youth, and persons with disabilities.

The lack of institutionalized legal aid mechanisms, fragmented referral pathways, and uneven public communication further compounds these challenges. In parallel, civic understanding of justice rights remains limited, and justice providers often lack the tools to engage in citizen-oriented service delivery. This mission responds to these systemic shortcomings by generating an integrated diagnostic that reflects both institutional performance and citizen-level perceptions—laying the foundation for targeted, context-sensitive reforms under the EU-funded programme.

2.1       Proejct’s Objectives

The project aims to contribute to a strengthened justice and rule of law system in Libya by supporting inclusive, accountable, and citizen-centered institutions. It seeks to enhance equal access to justice, reinforce the protection of human rights, and promote long-term stability and social cohesion. The intervention is anchored in two specific objectives:

·         Specific Objective 1: Strengthen the capacity and awareness of rule of law institutions and stakeholders—particularly youth and women—resulting in more inclusive, accountable, and citizen-oriented justice services.

·         Specific Objective 2: Empower women, girls, youth, and persons with disabilities (PwDs) to effectively exercise their legal rights and access justice services, while fostering inclusive communication and governance practices among institutions and civic actors.

2.2       Mission’s Objectives

The Justice Sector Expert will lead the legal and institutional dimension of the project diagnostic under Activity 0.1 of the Inception Phase. Operating within a two-person multidisciplinary team, the expert will contribute to building a shared, evidence-based understanding of the structural, procedural, and legal challenges impeding access to justice in Libya. The expert’s primary objectives are to:

§  Map Institutional and Legal Barriers to Access to Justice:

Identify legal, procedural, and institutional constraints affecting citizens’ ability to claim their rights—especially for women, youth, and persons with disabilities (PwD)—within both formal and informal justice mechanisms.

§  Analyze Justice Ecosystem Dynamics:

Examine the roles, mandates, overlaps, and functional capacities of Libya’s justice institutions (e.g., MoJ, CRATC, Bar Association, Law Society, and judicial actors) in the delivery of justice services.

§  Assess Legal Aid and Protection Mechanisms:

Evaluate the availability, scope, and functionality of existing legal aid and protection frameworks, especially for vulnerable groups, and identify key reform opportunities.

§  Contribute to a Comprehensive Diagnostic Report:

Develop the justice-specific sections of the Diagnostic Report in close collaboration with the Sociologist and the Inception Phase Lead, ensuring analytical rigor, policy relevance, and institutional ownership.

§  Support Institutional Engagement and Validation:

Present findings, co-facilitate consultations, and actively support the validation process with national stakeholders and the EU Delegation, ensuring that recommendations are practical, grounded, and aligned with institutional realities.

2.3       Scope of Work

The Justice Sector Expert will lead the legal and institutional components of Activity 0.1 of the Inception Phase of the Project. This mission will be conducted as part of a unified, multidisciplinary team composed of the Justice Sector Expert and the Sociologist, working under the overall coordination of the Inception Phase Lead. The two experts are jointly responsible for delivering a coherent and integrated diagnostic of access-to-justice gaps in Libya. Their collaboration is not optional but a structural requirement of the assignment.

The Justice Sector Expert’s scope of work includes the following responsibilities:

§  Justice System Mapping:

Conduct a structured analysis of the Libyan justice system’s institutional architecture, procedural workflows, and legal frameworks as they relate to citizen access to justice, with particular attention to women, youth, and persons with disabilities (PwD).

§  Stakeholder Consultations and Field Engagement:

Participate in interviews and focus group discussions with justice sector actors, institutional partners (e.g., MoJ, CRATC, Law Society, Bar Association), civil society, and legal aid providers to capture on-the-ground experiences and reform needs.

§  Legal and Institutional Barriers Analysis:

Identify systemic inefficiencies, discriminatory legal provisions, and procedural or operational bottlenecks that constrain equitable access to justice, particularly in underserved or marginalized communities.

§  Baseline Establishment and Reform Entry Points:

Define an analytical baseline to inform the Project’s interventions under Component 1. Highlight entry points for institutional reform, legal modernization, or procedural harmonization, grounded in the diagnostic findings.

§  Reporting and Validation:

Draft and revise the legal and institutional sections of the Access-to-Justice Diagnostic Report and Policy & Reform Brief. Collaborate in validation workshops and refine outputs based on institutional and EU feedback.

§  Joint Analytical Responsibility and Coordination:

Ensure seamless integration of legal-institutional and sociological findings by working as a single expert unit with the Sociologist. Maintain structured coordination with the Inception Phase Lead, EF Libya technical team, and EU focal points throughout all phases of the mission.

3.1       Analytical Orientation

The Justice Sector Expert’s analytical orientation must be diagnostic, reform-driven, and contextually embedded. This assignment is not a desk review—it is a high-level analytical mission designed to surface the institutional, procedural, and normative barriers limiting equal access to justice in Libya, particularly for historically marginalized groups (women, youth, PwDs).

The analysis must deconstruct the justice chain—from institutional mandates and legal texts to administrative practices and user experience. The expert will focus on:

»         Legal, policy, and institutional architecture of the justice system.

»         Actors, roles, and mandates across judicial, prosecutorial, and police institutions.

»         Systemic exclusion drivers in justice service delivery and dispute resolution.

»         Accountability mechanisms, both formal and informal.

»         Institutional readiness for reform and innovation.

The expert’s work must ensure findings are relevant across Libya’s diverse legal and administrative geographies (West, East, South), and deliver insights that resonate with both institutional reformers and civic actors.

3.2       Methodological Architecture

The Justice Sector Expert will deploy a field-anchored, collaborative methodology rooted in triangulation, complementarity, and institutional participation. Their methods will include:

»         Legal and procedural mapping using existing statutory texts and operational documentation.

»         Structured and semi-structured interviews with judicial, prosecutorial, police, and administrative personnel.

»         Joint field consultations with the Sociologist to capture both institutional perspectives and lived experiences.

»         Justice chain flow analysis and identification of friction points along the user journey.

»         Synthesis and validation of institutional findings through participatory workshops.

All tools—interview guides, assessment matrices, flow maps—must be designed and implemented jointly with the Sociologist to ensure coherence and interdisciplinary integration.

The expert is expected to follow a clear workplan that allows for systematic data collection, regional balance, and iterative validation of findings.

3.3       Innovation and Analytical Value-Added

The Justice Sector Expert will deploy a field-anchored, collaborative methodology rooted in triangulation, complementarity, and institutional participation. Their methods will include:

»         Legal and procedural mapping using existing statutory texts and operational documentation.

»         Structured and semi-structured interviews with judicial, prosecutorial, police, and administrative personnel.

»         Joint field consultations with the Sociologist to capture both institutional perspectives and lived experiences.

»         Justice chain flow analysis and identification of friction points along the user journey.

»         Synthesis and validation of institutional findings through participatory workshops.

All tools—interview guides, assessment matrices, flow maps—must be designed and implemented jointly with the Sociologist to ensure coherence and interdisciplinary integration.

The expert is expected to follow a clear workplan that allows for systematic data collection, regional balance, and iterative validation of findings.

3.4       Quality and Scientific Integrity Requirements

The added value of this assignment will be measured not by descriptive volume but by the quality of its insight. The expert must push beyond traditional legal analysis to:

§  Integrate rights-based and user-centered lenses into institutional diagnostics.

§  Map invisible obstacles to justice access—such as informal practices, bureaucratic discretion, or sociopolitical pressures.

§  Provide reform entry points that are feasible, politically smart, and strategically aligned with both national priorities and EU support objectives.

§  Translate complex system bottlenecks into concrete, prioritized recommendations that feed directly into the Project’s Implementation Roadmap.

The analysis must be designed to serve as a durable reference for EF, EU, and Libyan stakeholders—not as a one-time report, but as a navigational instrument.

The Justice Sector Expert is expected to deliver analysis of exceptional quality, rooted in sound methodology, institutional collaboration, and policy relevance. This mission represents not a rapid review, but a foundational diagnostic exercise that will inform the full scope of the Project’s strategic and operational planning.

The following standards apply:

»         Depth of Inquiry

-       The expert must go beyond surface-level descriptions and unpack underlying causes of justice sector dysfunction—legal, institutional, procedural, and behavioral.

-       The analysis must interrogate how power, authority, and discretion operate within justice institutions, and how these influence equitable access to justice.

-       Systemic, procedural, and actor-level dynamics must be mapped with precision and clarity, including formal and informal barriers to justice delivery.

»         Rigor of Interpretation

-       The expert must offer coherent, evidence-based interpretations of the findings, highlighting structural, policy, and operational implications.

-       Insights must be integrated with the sociological analysis led by the partner expert to ensure a multidimensional understanding of institutional challenges and citizen experiences.

-       Quantitative and qualitative findings must be synthesized into clear reform entry points that are actionable, feasible, and aligned with institutional capacity.

»         Deliverable Standards

All deliverables must meet the following expectations:

§  Precision: Clear structure, refined language, and use of appropriate technical terminology.

§  Relevance: Aligned with the Project’s objectives and responsive to institutional realities.

§  Usability: Written and formatted for policy influence and operational application, with executive summaries, visuals, and prioritized recommendations.

§  Consistency: Findings must align with those of the institutional needs assessment and support a unified Implementation Roadmap.

§  Validation-ready: Deliverables must be suitable for high-level review by EU and Libyan institutional partners during stakeholder workshops.

»         Peer-Learning Orientation

Reports and presentations must be conceived not as static outputs but as living tools that promote shared understanding, institutional dialogue, and cross-learning among Libyan stakeholders and European partners. As such:

-       Language should balance technical rigor with accessibility.

-       Outputs must facilitate joint reflection and co-ownership during the validation phase.

-       Final materials should be readily adaptable into policy briefs, executive presentations, or strategic memos as needed by Expertise France or the EU Delegation.

All activities conducted under this mission must adhere to the highest ethical standards, with particular attention to the principles of do-no-harm, non-discrimination, informed consent, and respect for individual dignity. Given the politically sensitive and socially fragmented context of Libya, and the mission’s focus on marginalized populations—including women, girls, youth, and persons with disabilities (PwD)—the expert team is required to operate with heightened ethical vigilance.

Core Ethical Principles

• Voluntary Participation and Informed Consent: All data collection—whether through interviews, focus groups, or surveys—must be preceded by a clear, accessible explanation of the purpose, use, and confidentiality of the information, ensuring that participation is entirely voluntary and based on informed consent.
• Protection of Vulnerable Groups: Special measures must be taken to avoid retraumatization, coercion, or misrepresentation when engaging with women, survivors of violence, young people, and persons with disabilities. Methods must be inclusive and adapted to ensure accessibility (e.g., using plain language, sign language interpretation, or alternative formats as needed).
• Do-No-Harm: The expert team must assess and mitigate any potential risks that participants may face as a result of their involvement in the assessment, including social, psychological, or reputational harm. Sensitive topics must be handled with care and professionalism.
• Anonymity and Confidentiality: All information collected must be anonymized where appropriate and securely stored. Identifiable data shall not be disclosed without explicit written consent from participants. Reports must not include names, locations, or affiliations that could put individuals or institutions at risk.

Compliance with Legal and Institutional Norms

• The assessment must comply with Libyan legal norms related to data protection and research ethics, while also aligning with European Union standards for privacy and human rights safeguards.
• Any documentation, audio-visual content, or field notes shall be managed in accordance with Expertise France’s data protection policies and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), where applicable.

Neutrality and Integrity

• Experts must refrain from engaging in political discourse or actions that may compromise the impartiality of the mission.
• They are expected to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and maintain a strictly non-partisan and evidence-based approach throughout the assignment.

Ethical Oversight and Accountability

• Expertise France reserves the right to terminate the contract of any consultant found in breach of ethical protocols.
• A designated ethical focal point within the EF Libya team will be available to support the consultants in navigating any dilemmas encountered in the field.

6.1       Internal Coordination and Communication Mechanisms

During the inception phase, an internal coordination mechanism will be established between EF Libya and the expert team to ensure smooth implementation and timely delivery.

·         Weekly Steering Briefings: Led by the Team Leader and the EF Programme Manager to review progress, risks, and next steps.

·         Ad-Hoc Meetings: Convened as required by EF or the expert team, in response to contextual developments or analytical needs.

·         Consolidated Progress Notes: Shared bi-weekly by the Team Leader with the EF Libya DMEAL & Programme Quality Manager for monitoring and documentation purposes.

·         EF HQ Consultation: EF Paris may be consulted on specific methodological or institutional issues, particularly where validation intersects with corporate quality standards or external visibility.

This internal structure ensures coherence, transparency, and rapid feedback loops throughout the mission, reducing validation delays and maintaining analytical momentum.

6.2       Principles Guiding Validation

All validation activities shall adhere to the following operational and ethical principles:

·         Methodological Integrity: No analytical modification will be approved without empirical justification and documentation.

·         Transparency: Validation sessions will be fully documented; dissenting opinions will be recorded but resolved internally within EF Libya’s governance framework.

·         Institutional Respect: Engagement with Libyan institutions shall follow formal communication channels, ensuring data confidentiality and respect for national protocols.

·         Timeliness: Validation milestones are binding; delays must be pre-approved by EF Libya management with clear justification.

The following table presents the expected deliverables, sequence, and indicative timeline for the inception-phase assessment mission. The schedule assumes a three-month implementation period from February 2026 to May 2026. All deliverables are to be submitted in English and transmitted to Expertise France through the Project Manager / Inception phase lead, with copies to the Head of Programs, and the Deputy Head of Programs.

»         Note :

Expertise France expects all deliverables to be produced punctually, in full compliance with quality standards, and aligned with the indicative schedule above. Minor adjustments to sequencing may be introduced by the expert team during the inception phase; any modification to deadlines must be formally validated in writing by Expertise France prior to implementation.

All activities undertaken within the framework of this inception-phase mission must strictly adhere to the ethical standards and professional conduct principles established by Expertise France (EF) and the European Union. The expert team shall uphold the highest standards of integrity, impartiality, and accountability, ensuring that no action or decision compromises the credibility, neutrality, or independence of the assessment process.

All experts must maintain strict confidentiality regarding any information, data, or documentation obtained during the course of the mission. This obligation applies to all forms of communication — written, verbal, and digital — and remains in force even after the completion of the assignment.
Sensitive or classified data related to public finance, financial institutions, or national strategies must be handled with particular caution and shared exclusively through channels authorised by Expertise France.

In accordance with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR 2016/679), all data collection, processing, storage, and transmission carried out by the experts shall comply with EU data-protection principles, including lawfulness, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, integrity, and confidentiality. No personal or institutional data may be reproduced, stored, or transferred to third parties without the prior written authorisation of Expertise France.

All team members must also comply with EF’s internal Code of Ethics, which mandates the prevention of conflicts of interest, non-discrimination, respect for human rights, and the responsible use of information. Any breach of ethical or data-protection obligations will result in immediate contractual sanctions and disqualification.

This mission shall operate under a zero-tolerance policy toward misconduct, ensuring that all actions reflect the integrity and trust that underpin EU-funded cooperation.

The expert team will maintain a structured and transparent communication framework with Expertise France (EF) throughout the inception mission. All exchanges, deliverables, and coordination notes must be transmitted in English, the sole working language of this assignment.

9.1       Reporting Structure

The Justice Expert will report directly to the Expertise France Libya Team Lead, who oversees delivery and quality assurance for the inception phase. All technical inputs, deliverables, and coordination outputs must be submitted as per the agreed timelines and formats.

9.2       Internal Coordination and Collaboration Protocols

The Justice Expert will work in continuous and structured coordination with the Sociologist, forming a joint multidisciplinary assessment team. This collaboration is integral to the mission and includes:

§  Co-developing the inception methodology and fieldwork plan.

§  Sharing and integrating institutional and sociological findings.

§  Joint drafting and peer review of key deliverables, including the Diagnostic Report and Policy & Reform Brief.

§  Conducting validation sessions together with Libyan stakeholders and the EU Delegation.

9.3       Format and Branding

All reports must follow EF’s standard format (Word/PDF, A4, EF and EU logos) and include:

·         Cover page with title, mission name, and date;

·         Executive summary (max. 2 pages);

·         Main body structured by analytical pillar;

·         Annexes (data sources, references, validation records).
All outputs must include the following disclaimer:

“This document was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Expertise France and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.”

9.4       Confidentiality and Communication Ethics

All public or external communications (including presentations, interviews, or citations) must receive prior written authorisation from Expertise France. No information collected during the mission may be disclosed without EF’s explicit consent.

The inception mission will be managed operationally by Expertise France – Libya Office, with coordination from the Project Manager and support from the Tunis-based EF support unit.

Mission Base and Mobility

The expert team will operate primarily from Tripoli, depending on security conditions and access permissions. Short-term missions to Libya will be planned and approved by EF based on feasibility, visa issuance, and safety advisories. Remote collaboration mechanisms will be established when physical presence is not possible.

Travel and Security

All international and domestic travel must comply with EF’s security and travel protocols for service providers. Experts will receive a security briefing and clearance prior to deployment in Libya. Travel arrangements, accommodation, and on-ground logistics will be coordinated by EF Libya’s Administration and Operations Unit.

Administrative Coordination

EF Libya will facilitate:

·         Visa requests and administrative clearances, in coordination with national authorities;

·         Office access and local transportation during in-country missions (Libya). (Libya);

·         Insurance coverage and incident reporting protocols as per EF’s standard policies.

Working Modalities

Experts are expected to work both on-site and remotely, maintaining continuous communication with EF. All mission costs (travel, accommodation, per diem) will be managed in accordance with EF’s financial regulations and EU contractual procedures.

The expert team must ensure availability, adaptability, and operational discipline to deliver high-quality outputs within the agreed timeline and under EF’s supervision.