The formal justice system of Bangladesh is burdened
with huge case backlogs due to lacks in system and procedural reforms
and improvements resulting in limited access to justice opportunity for
the vulnerable groups of people. Strengthening the formal justice system
and the rule of law is a priority for the Government of Bangladesh and
the Supreme Court. There is also increasing demand for improvements in
the administration of timely, affordable and equitable justice.
Therefore, the Supreme Court with UNDP's technical and financial support
has undertaken a project, known as JUST (Judicial Strengthening) to
strengthen its capacity to administer the court system efficiently and
reduce the case backlogs which would provide a sustainable foundation to
improve access to justice for the public, especially, vulnerable groups
such as the poor, women and children.
JUST (Judicial Strengthening) project focuses on four outputs:
- Improved case management in the Supreme Court;
- Improved strategic planning and administrative capacity of the Supreme Court;
- 3 district courts deliver improved services for court users; and
- Strengthened
training capacity on case-management; all of which are interweaved and
linked with the business process of the courts.
To attain
output 1, 3 and 4 an efficient case management mechanism should be in
place to reduce the case backlogs and to understand the existing
shortcomings business process mapping of the judiciary is eminent. This
assignment is designed to mapping the business process of the justice
system of Bangladesh to frame an efficient case management system for
the Judiciary through identifying the regulatory, procedural and
interlocutory constraints which are responsible for the huge case
backlogs, complexity, procrastination and inadequate case management
system causing delay and suffering for the general court users and
limiting access to justice to the vulnerable groups of people.
Therefore,
a detailed documentation of the courts process i.e. the judicial and
administrative functions of the court from lodging an application or
complaints to final delivery of the judgment and its execution has to be
reviewed and an improved case management system for high court and
appellate division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and an advanced
case management mechanism at district level has to be designed.
The
International Consultant: Justice Specialist will report to the CTA of
JUST Project and will work in a team with other national consultants to
develop case management mechanism and a detailed documentation of the
courts' business processes. The Consultant will also work in close
collaboration with Programme Officer, Democratic Governance Cluster,
UNDP.
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Objectives:
The Judicial
Strengthening (JUST) project has certain activities set out for 2013 to
assist the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and pilot district courts (Dhaka,
Kishoregongj and Rangamati) for establishing a case management
mechanism and outline the business process of the justice system in
Bangladesh.
The project requires the service of an International
Consultant Justice Specialist, working under the overall guidance of
the National Project Director (NPD) and supervision of the Chief
Technical Adviser and in close collaboration with the program officer of
the Democratic Governance Cluster of the UNDP to attain the following
objectives through applying his/her technical expertise.
General objective:
The
broad objective of this assignment is to review the case management
processes of the justice system by delineating the procedures and steps
of High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Pilot
District Courts of the subordinate judiciary of different cases to
identify causes of delay and obstructions in the way of dispensation of
quality justice and making appropriate recommendations.
The specific objectives of the assignment are:
Review,
upgrade and validate the business processes mapping document of the
justice system of Bangladesh developed by the national consultants and
finalize the document in collaboration with the national consultants.
The knowledge product will be consisting of the following elements-
- Elaborate
generic business process of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and
District Courts on civil suits and criminal cases as per the Civil
Procedure Code (CPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC), Civil Courts
Rules and Order (CRO) and standard procedures with estimated time as
prescribed in the codes;
- Detailed process documentation
of the civil appeal and review & revision, criminal appeals and
writs at High Court Division and petition for leave to appeal review
administrative and hearing appeals reviews at the Appellate Division of
the supreme court;
- Detailed process documentation of
civil suits, criminal cases, revision and appeals at the lower courts
such as assistant judges to district judge's court, judicial magistrate
courts to sessions judge courts, special courts;
- Identify
the judicial, procedural, administrative and interlocutory deviations,
constrains, delay and procrastination at different stage of case
management process;
- Determine doable immediate and
strategic resolutions to remove the constraints, reduce delay, fix the
deviations to ensure timely, affordable and efficient case management
and enhance access to justice opportunity for the vulnerable groups of
people;
Review, upgrade and finalize the
recommendations to set up an efficient case management mechanism for the
supreme court of Bangladesh and district courts to monitor and oversee
dealings of cases by High Court Division and district courts so that
case backlogs are reduced and case handlings are monitored
scientifically. It will also ensure efficiency in overall case
management through a well-organized, participatory and responsive
mechanism;
Facilitate the workshop for developing the improved case management mechanism;
Conduct sessions for Judges on improved case management and judicial leadership.
Scope of work and expected outputs / deliverables:
- Scope of work:
The assignment has three phases and the consultant is expected to
deliver to a host of knowledge products along with other associated
information and elements as described in the deliverables of which
business process mapping is in the process of development by a team of
national consultants. S/He has to work closely with the national
consultants to develop and upgrade the knowledge product and validate
the information independently and ensure that the knowledge product on
the business process mapping attain international standard and comply
with best practices in similar areas. To gather and review the project
documents, existing statues of case management, Civil Rules and Orders,
Code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure and Criminal Rules
and Orders. He has to work closely with a team of local consultants,
project, UNDP, Supreme Court, Pilot District Courts and other courts;
- Conduct
capacity assessment and use other standard methods and tools to
identify capacity gaps and opportunities for reforms and improvements;
- Analyze best practices and improved justice systems of the same context;
- Consult
and interview relevant stakeholders at the supreme court and district
courts to develop the case management mechanism and map the business
process of the formal justice system and visit the supreme court, pilot
districts, CSOs, eminent lawyers to collect information and conduct the
system scan and mapping;
- Review, upgrade, develop and
triangulate the business process documentation of civil suits, criminal
cases and appeals at the lower courts such as district and sessions
judge's court, judicial magistrate courts and detailed process
documentation of the civil suits, criminal appeals and writs at High
Court Division of the supreme court;
- Submit the documents
consecutively to the Supreme Court through CTA and UNDP for final
comments and incorporate the comments, if any, and submit the final
product to the Supreme Court for approval and ensure approval of the
document.
- Work with the project team in arranging the
workshop and present the business process document in a workshop for
attaining feedbacks;
- Accommodate the feedbacks and get the concerned sections endorsed by relevant stakeholders, i.e. the practitioners;
- Submit
the final Draft to the Supreme Court and UNDP for final review and
accommodate the final comments and get the document approved by the
Supreme Court;
- Furnish the case management mechanism and
submit to the project and share it through an workshop and finalize the
document incorporating the inputs from the workshop; and
- The
assignment requires intensive visit, desk work, typing and writing work
which the consultants will have to accomplish independently.
Deliverables: The assignment will generate the followings –
A
reviewed, triangulated, upgraded and finalized international standard
knowledge product on the business processes of the formal justice system
of Bangladesh with the following indispensable information and elements with necessary illustrations/ flow chart/ diagram.
- Elaborate
generic business processes for civil suits and criminal cases as per
the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) and
standard procedures with estimated time as prescribed in the codes;
- A detailed process documentation of the
- civil and criminal revision,
- criminal and civil appeals and
- writs at High Court Division and petition for leave to appeal and hearing of appeals by the Supreme Court;
- A detailed and separate process documentation of -
- civil suits,
- criminal cases and
- revision
and appeals (civil and criminal) at the lower courts such as assistant
judges to district judge's court, judicial magistrate courts to
sessions judges courts.
- Process Diagrams of all the courts;
- Identify
the judicial, procedural, interlocutory and administrative deviations,
constrains, delay and procrastination at different stages of case
management process; and
- Determine doable immediate and
strategic resolutions to remove the constraints, reduce delay, fix the
deviations to ensure timely, affordable and efficient case management
and enhance access to justice opportunity for the vulnerable groups of
people.
A modality for an efficient case
management mechanism for the Supreme court of Bangladesh to monitor and
oversee dealings of cases by different branches of high court
and district courts so that case backlogs are reduced and case handlings
are monitored scientifically. It will also ensure efficiency in overall
case management through a well-organized, participatory and responsive
mechanism;
A knowledge product elaborating an efficient
case management mechanism for the supreme court of Bangladesh and
district judiciary including the following information and elements with necessary illustrations/ flow chart/ diagram –
- Mechanism
to oversee dealings of cases by different higher courts and district
courts so that case backlogs are reduced and case handlings are
monitored scientifically and professionally;
- Mechanism to ensure efficiency in overall case management through a well-organized and responsive system;
Sessions for Judges on improved case management and judicial leadership.
All the relevant and supporting documents collected and produced during the assignment:
Completed Products Under Each Area and Activity:
- Final knowledge product on business process mapping of the formal justice system of Bangladesh by May 15, 2013.
- Final knowledge product on case management by June 10, 2013.
- All other relevant deliverables and supporting documents collected and produced during the assignment by June 10, 2013.
Reports:
Monthly remuneration upon submission of monthly progress reports,
meeting minutes and other documents on the provision of specified
deliverables
Inputs: While travelling to field necessary vehicle supports would be provided from the Project of UNDP.
The assignment will focus on the following areas and activities:
- Gather
and review the existing national and international literature, rules of
business, orders, procedural and other laws as regards to business
process, case management and courts procedures; and develop a plan to
carry out the assignment ( Within 5 days).
- Review,
fine-tune and upgrade the draft mapping document prepared by the
national consultants and validate the information through cross
verification, system scan and triangulation ( Within 25 days).
- Facilitate
and present the draft mapping document along with the national
consultants in a workshop for attaining feed backs ( Within 2 days).
- Ensure
accommodation of the feedbacks and get the concerned sections endorsed
by relevant stakeholders, i.e. the practitioners ( Within 3 days).
- Finalize the mapping document with the approval of the Supreme Court and submit to UNDP ( 5 days required).
- Share the draft knowledge product in the workshop to attain feedback ( Within 3 days).
- Include the comments by Supreme Court or UNDP ( Within 2 days).
- Submit the final document to supreme court and attain approval ( Within 2 days ).
- Accommodate, finalize the document and submit for approval (Within 3 days).
Total 50 Days.
Impact or Results
The Consultant’s work will ensure:
- An efficient case management mechanism in action; and
- Business
processes documentation of the justice system is in place which will
help identifying the constraints and errors of the business process
responsible for case backlogs.
- Both the task will support
in reducing the case backlogs and establishing an improved case
management and court administration system to ensure efficient justice
service delivery and enhance access to justice for the vulnerable
groups.
Progress controls and payment installments:
Payments
will be made monthly under the certification of the Chief Technical
Advisor or (in his/her absence) the Programme Officer, DGC, UNDP based
on progress towards the deliverables.
Supervision and Performance Evaluation:
The
consultant will be paid as a lump sum on monthly basis based upon
submission of successful progress/results reports and certification of
Chief Technical Advisor, JUST Project or Assistant Country Director
(Democratic Governance).
Time frame and deadlines:
The duration of the assignment will be from 1 March 2013 to 30 June 2013 in Dhaka for 50 days.
EVALUATION of THE CANDIDATE:
Cumulative analysis
When
using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be
made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and
determined as:
- responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
- Having
received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted
technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
* Technical Criteria weight; 70
* Financial Criteria weight; 30
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points out of 70 would be considered for the Financial Evaluation
Technical Evaluation Criteria: 70 Marks
- Experience
in Justice and legal aid area and sufficient knowledge in the area of
judicial reforms and knowledge on the common law system (Maximum 10
Point);
- Experience of designing and implementation of
judicial reform/case management mechanism/business process mapping and
demonstrate capacity to initiate reform initiatives for the judiciary
in particular (Maximum 15 Point) ;
- Experience of
judicial/court knowledge of business processes, strong analytical
ability and communication skills, demonstrated expertise in reporting
and provide policy advice, data analysis and research (Maximum 25
Point);
- International work experience in developing
countries, especially working in the justice field is required.
Experience in South Asia will be an asset (Maximum 10 Point);
- Demonstrated
understanding of donor funding mechanisms and work experience with
UN/UNDP/development partners desired; and Knowledge of UNDP business
processes will be an added advantage (Maximum 10 Point).
Financial Evaluation : 30 Marks
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Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates
integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards (human
rights, peace, understanding between peoples and nations, tolerance,
integrity, respect, results orientation (UNDP core ethics) impartiality
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
Functional Competencies:
- Strong analytical, problem-solving and technical skills;
- Excellent communication skills in English;
- Ability to work under minimum supervision;
- Ability
to establish and maintain good working relationships with all project
stakeholders including Supreme Court Judges and High level government
officials, team members, implementing partners /vendors, UNDP officials
and other;
- Strong work ethic and results-oriented approach to deliver significant individual and team's achievements over time.
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