Ref.
2023/ESCCC/9477
Job offer type
Experts
Type of contract
Service contract
Deadline date
2023/05/30 23:59
Duration of the assignment
Beaded expertise
Contract
Freelancer
Duration
30 months (max 300 days)
EU4J STE C1 C2 C3 (M/W)
Département Gouvernance - GOUV > Pôle Justice
Published on : 2023/05/16
CONTINENTAL EUROPE
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Mission description
The expert will intervene in three core components of the project:
- Component 1 – Strengthen the monitoring and evaluation capacities of the judiciary
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the execution of justice policies and of the performance of the judicial system as a whole is a central responsibility of the HJPC, and is essential to ensure proper implementation of justice reforms: these reforms entail revisions of regulations, guidelines and rulebooks but also procedures to assess, review and evaluate their implementation measures at regular intervals.
Under the supervision of the Project´s Component Leader, EU4Justice will strengthen the capacities of beneficiaries through the establishment of a fully inclusive and efficient justice sector monitoring mechanism with three main goals: support the HJPC and the MoJ in the monitoring and evaluation of their implementation of reform programmes (1.1); enhance the HJPC capacities to monitor the implementation of policies by relevant institutions and JOHs (1.2); and, improve the HJPC ability to monitor and enhance the performance of the judiciary (1.3).
- Component 2 – Strengthen the integrity capacities of the HJPC
Integrity remains one of the major concerns for the international community and is crucial to meeting EU standards. In fact, “persistent and evident signs of deterioration continue to require urgent measure to strenghthen integrity and regain the public trust in the judiciary.” Repeated public scandals involving high-level members of the judiciary have highlighted the need for targeted and urgent reforms, particularly with regard to strengthening the integrity of Judicial Office Holders (JOHs) and the HJPC members. Under the coordination of the Project’s Team Leader, the EU4Justice projects offers to cover three fundamental aspects of integrity: asset verification of JOHs (2.1), counselling on integrity (2.2) and integrity-related training schemes (2.3).
- Component 3 – Strengthen the HJPC’s Capacities in areas relevant for the execution of its core competences
As self-regulatory body with country-wide mandate over the judiciary, the HJPC’s competences are of particularly broad nature especially with regards to the administration of the judiciary. Despite repeated recommendations of the international community to improve the relevant rules and their implementation, “[r]ules on appointments, disciplinary responsibility, career advancement and conflict of interest of judges and prosecutors continue to be applied inconsistently and with overly board discretion.”
EU4Justice will support the HJPC in enhancing its capacities in key areas of its competences: career management - including appointments (activity 3.1) and promotions (activity 3.2) - discipline (activity 3.3) and security (activity 3.4). In addition, EU4Justice will provide ad hoc legal opinions and support in legal drafting, when needed and in areas connected with EU4Justice activities (activity 3.5).
The assignments will take place in Sarajevo and remotely. Expertise France will cover the transport costs to and from Sarajevo (within the limit of 650€). The designated expert will receive a per diem for the time spent in Sarajevo upon submission of the adequate original documentation.
A framework service contract covering all areas of intervention of the designated expert will be signed with the designated expert for a maximum number of days. Specific terms of reference detailing missions and deliverables will be issued by Expertise France with purchase orders all along the framework contracts implementation. All missions will include a mission report in addition to other deliverables detailed in the terms of references.
Reports must be submitted in English.
Project or context description
As candidate for EU membership, Bosnia and Herzegovina (‘BiH’) is expected to meet EU justice standards as provided for by several of the 14 key priorities for membership and recalled by the EU Commission in its 2018 Western Balkan Strategy.
BiH’s complex and fragmented institutional structure has led the country to a difficult situation, in particular regarding rule of law. No recent progress was made in this field and “lack of commitment to judicial reform from political actors, and the poor functioning of the judicial system continued to undermine the citizen’s enjoyment of rights and the fight against corruption and organised crime”.
The cross-cutting objective of this action is to share practical methods with the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (the ‘HJPC’) and other Justice Institutions of BiH in order to increase its capacities to implement its mission to ensure independence and professionalism of the judiciary, promote judicial reform, and enhance the country’s response to organised crime and corruption.
This Action aims at supporting the Justice Sector Institutions in carrying out these changes in order to align the functioning of the BiH judiciary with EU rule of law standards by enhancing professionalism, efficiency and transparency of the BiH justice system for the final benefit of BiH citizens.
Required profile
Qualifications and experience:
- Proven minimum 10 years, preferably 12 years, of working experience as civil servant in a justice institution.
- Proven minimum 5 years of experience in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of strategic documents in the field of justice.
- Proven minimum 5 years of experience in a high judicial and/or prosecutorial council of and EU member state or of the Balkans region.
- Proven experience in nomination of judicial office holders’ process.
- Proven experience in the fields of integrity and discipline of judicial office holders.
- Strong experience on international projects relating to justice reform.
- Extensive professional experience in the improvement of the efficiency of the judicial system, as well as in management of the Justice sector.
- Very good command of oral and written English language (C2).
Additional professional skills:
- Previous experience/s on international Projects in the Balkans.
- Extensive professional capability in dealing with institutions of inspection and self-government of judiciary.
- Consultancy experience in an EU Member State.
- Very good communication and reporting skills.
Professional skills:
- Teamwork capacity and team management.
- Multicultural environment work ability.
- Initiative, autonomy, decision-making capacity, and organization.
- Excellent communication and reporting skills.
- Good command of Microsoft Office™ tools.
- Management, organizational and inter-personal skills, as well as strong ability to work under tight deadlines.
Selection criteria for applications
The selection process for candidates will be based on the following criteria :
- Candidate’s skills linked with the expert mission
- Candidate’s experiences linked with the expert mission
Deadline for application : 2023/05/30 23:59
File(s) attached : ToR_C1C2C3 300 days.docx
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- democratic, economic, and financial governance ;
- peace, stability, and security ;
- climate, agriculture, and sustainable development ;
- health and human development ;
In these areas, Expertise France conducts capacity-building initiatives and manages project implementation, leveraging technical expertise and acting as a project coordinator. This involves combining public sector expertise with private sector skills to drive impactful results.