Objectives and desired results

1) General objective

To provide high-quality national expertise, analytical support and capacity-development assistance to the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, courts and other relevant judicial institutions in improving the management of the judicial system and courts and the quality, efficiency and accessibility of justice services in line with European standards, including through the analysis of legislation and judicial practice, assessments and expert opinions on issues arising in the course of reform implementation.

2) Specific objectives

•  Contribute to the development of the case-weighting methodology, action/work plan and supporting methodological and practical materials and tools for the case-weighting study in Ukrainian courts.

•  Facilitate stakeholder consultations, coordination and Working Group meetings, and deliver capacity-building activities for Working Group members and other relevant stakeholders.

•  Support the development of methodologies, standards and tools for evidence-based court management, including judicial statistics, workload and resource planning and court performance evaluation.

•  Support the roll-out and dissemination of Model Court Initiative solutions in national courts.

•  Prepare analytical notes on identifying and assessing the legal, procedural and organisational risks in automated case allocation, with methodological recommendations for their mitigation.

•  Provide, upon request of the Project, legal and policy analysis of legislation, draft laws, secondary legislation, judicial practice and case-law, as well as assessments and expert opinions on other issues relevant to Result 1.5.

3) Anticipated results

•  Case-weighting methodology, action/work plan and supporting methodological and practical tools developed with the Working Group.

•  Recommendations on court network optimization and the allocation of judicial and administrative resources developed on the basis of workload, case-weighting and accessibility considerations.

•  Methodologies, standards and tools for judicial statistics, resource planning and court performance evaluation developed or improved.

•  Legal, procedural and organizational risks in automated case allocation identified and assessed, and recommendations for their mitigation provided to the SJA.

•  Model Court Initiative solutions disseminated in national courts with the involvement of legal professionals and civil society organizations.

•  Increased professional knowledge and practical skills of SJA staff, court managers, Working Group members and other stakeholders on evidence-based court management.

•  Beneficiaries and the Project are provided with timely expert analysis of legislation, draft laws, judicial practice and case-law, assessments and expert opinions supporting evidence-based decision-making.

Description of the assignment

1) Planned activities

The Expert shall work under the overall supervision of the Senior National Key Expert on Judiciary Reform and Pillar 1 Lead, and in close coordination with other Project experts and relevant beneficiary institutions.

Depending on the specific assignment and area of expertise, the Expert may be required to provide some or all of the following services:

A. Court network optimization and case-weighting

•  Contribute to the development of the case-weighting methodology, action/work plan, case categorization and complexity framework, data collection templates and tools, instructions and guidance, and other materials required for the preparation and implementation of the case-weighting study.

•  Organize and facilitate stakeholder consultations, coordination and Working Group meetings, and prepare agendas, discussion papers and summaries of outcomes.

•  Analyze court workload, staffing and accessibility, and prepare recommendations on the optimization of the court network and the allocation of judicial and administrative resources.

•  Conduct comparative research on court network optimization and workload measurement in EU Member States and identify approaches relevant to Ukraine.

B. Evidence-based court management and court performance evaluation

•  Support the development of methodologies, standards, guidelines and regulatory frameworks for evidence-based court management, including judicial statistics, workload and resource planning and court administration.

•  Support the development and application of court performance and quality indicators and evaluation tools, including CEPEJ tools, court user satisfaction surveys and other instruments for evaluating the quality and efficiency of justice services.

•  Prepare analytical, methodological or policy recommendations to strengthen the financial and infrastructure sustainability of the judiciary.

•  Prepare analytical notes on identifying and assessing risks in automated case allocation from a legal, procedural and organizational perspective, including the regulatory framework and its application, exceptions and manual allocation, specialization and recusal of judges and safeguards of the right to a tribunal established by law, with methodological recommendations for risk assessment and mitigation.

C. Model Court solutions and capacity development

•  Support the roll-out and dissemination of Model Court Initiative solutions in national courts, including the preparation of guidance and practical materials and engagement with associations of legal professionals and civil society organizations (A 1.5.2).

•  Design and deliver training sessions, workshops and other capacity-building activities for SJA staff, court managers, Working Group members and other relevant stakeholders.

•  Prepare training agendas, presentations, case studies, practical exercises and other training materials, and facilitate discussions during capacity-development activities.

D. Analysis of legislation and case-law, assessments and expert opinions

•  Upon request of the Project, provide legal and policy analysis of the legislation, draft laws, secondary legislation and internal regulations governing the judicial system, court organization and administration, judicial procedure and access to justice, including their compliance with European standards and Ukraine’s EU accession commitments.

•  Analyze judicial practice and case-law of Ukrainian courts and relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the EU, including on the length of proceedings, the right to a fair trial and access to justice, and identify trends, inconsistencies and implementation challenges.

•  Conduct needs assessments, functional and institutional assessments, gap analyses, surveys and other assessments of courts, judicial institutions, procedures and practices, and prepare findings and recommendations.

•  Prepare expert opinions, analytical notes, comparative studies, policy briefs, comments and proposals on draft legal acts, methodologies, strategies, action plans and other documents relevant to Result 1.5, including in response to ad hoc requests from the beneficiaries.

•  Contribute to the monitoring of the implementation of relevant reform measures and interim benchmarks, and to the preparation of the Project’s analytical and reporting inputs.

E. Representation of the Project’s position and results of work

• Participation in working groups, meetings or other working and coordination platforms dedicated to court network optimization, court management and the quality, efficiency and accessibility of justice.

•  Presentation of papers, studies and other materials prepared by the expert under the assignment received from the Project during public events and working meetings.

2) Anticipated deliverables

3) Consultation

The Expert shall work under the overall supervision of the Senior National Key Expert on Judiciary Reform and Pillar 1 Lead.

The Expert shall maintain regular communication with the designated Project experts concerning the prioritization and allocation of analytical, facilitation and capacity-development tasks; the scope, methodology and expected outputs of expert products; legal questions, data and factual materials requiring assessment; consultations with the SJA, courts and other relevant beneficiaries; the preparation and delivery of Working Group meetings and capacity-development activities; the submission, review and revision of deliverables; and any circumstances that may affect the quality, timeliness or impartiality of the assignment.

The Expert shall promptly communicate any potential conflict of interest, confidentiality concern or other circumstance that may affect the performance of the assignment.

4) Implementation period

Start date: January 2027

End date: June 2030

Effective duration of the assignment: 42 months

5) Place of performance

The assignment shall primarily be performed on a home-based basis. Frequent travel to and within Ukraine may be required, upon formal request by Expertise France and subject to applicable security and contractual arrangements.

Participation in meetings, consultations and other Project activities may take place in person or online, subject to prior agreement with the Program Key Expert.