Job title: Senior Legal Expert (Short Term position)
Duty station: Tirana/Albania
Duration: Three (3) months
Tentative period of employment: March-May 2023
Remuneration: Very motivating
Deadline for application: March 7, 2023
Employer: Institute for Policy & Legal Studies (IPLS)/Project “Judiciary under spotlight”

Background information

The consortium led by the Institute for Policy & Legal Studies (IPLS), also comprising the Open Society Foundation for Albania (OSFA) and the Centre for Legal Empowerment (CLE), has started its “Judiciary under spotlight” three-years project under a funding contract with the EU Delegation in Albania under the Reference Call “EuropeAid/174080/DD/ACT/AL-1” Support to civil society organisations in the fields of good governance and rule of law”. In this framework the IPLS/OSFA/CLE project is addressing the Call’s priority area of Justice under Lot 1- Support to CSOs in the fields of Good Governance and Rule of Law. The project aims at empowering Albanian CSOs and other key stakeholders to professionally conduct monitoring and evaluation of the functioning of the Albanian judiciary in compliance with applicable legal, procedural and best practice standards. To this end, the consortium will strive to meet the following three objectives: 1) Develop a Judicial Monitoring Framework for use by civil society actors; 2) Increase the professional capacity of CSOs/key stakeholders to rigorously monitor judicial activity in a sustainable way; 3) Support civil society organisations/actors to monitor the judicial performance in selected courts through funding their proposals.
Under the project objective 1 “Develop a Judicial Monitoring Framework for use by civil society actors”, IPLS is seeking to recruit up to six (6) senior legal experts to develop, through their combined expertise, four (4) Judicial Monitoring Guides for CSOs/stakeholders in the following four crucial areas of judicial activity:

access to justice and fair trial

judicial meritocracy

judicial integrity

court transparency

The Judicial Monitoring Guides will consist of a collection of relevant judicial performance benchmarks / standards per each of the four areas of judicial activity described above, relevant potential indicators for the achievement of those benchmarks / standards and the methodology of their measurement. They should provide the indispensable knowledge base and framework for the capacity building/training activities in the next phase of the project, while at the same time making available useful and instructive reference documents for all potential justice stakeholders, notably CSOs, beyond project lifetime.

Duties and responsibilities:

THE POTENTIAL CANDIDATES SHOULD APPLY FOR ONE OF THE FOUR JUDICIAL ACTIVITY AREAS MENTIONED ABOVE.

The main duties include:

For the judicial activity area 1-Fair process and access to justice:

Research the legal framework, work practices, case management systems, budgeting and human resources arrangements that underpin the access to justice and fair process in judicial proceedings both in contemporary theory and Albanian practice.

Draft the Monitoring Guide for CSOs on justice and fair process in judicial proceedings based on previous relevant research work.

Consult/discuss with the High Council of Justice (HCJ) on proposed judicial performance benchmarks / standards related to the targeted judicial area and the relevant performance indicators by participating in a relevant focus group.

Cooperate effectively with the project team and report to the project management on completion of duties.

For the judicial activity area 2- Judicial meritocracy:

Research the legal framework, work practices, case management systems, budgeting and human resources arrangements that underpin the judicial meritocracy, both in contemporary theory and Albanian practice.

Draft the Monitoring Guide for CSOs on judicial meritocracy based on previous relevant research work.

Consult/discuss with the High Council of Justice (HCJ) on proposed judicial performance benchmarks / standards related to the targeted judicial area and the relevant performance indicators by participating in a relevant focus group.

Cooperate effectively with the project team and report to the project management on completion of duties. For the judicial activity area 3- Judicial integrity:

Research the legal framework, work practices, case management systems, budgeting and human resources arrangements that underpin the judicial meritocracy, both in contemporary theory and Albanian practice.

Draft the Monitoring Guide for CSOs on judicial meritocracy based on previous relevant research work.

Consult/discuss with the High Council of Justice (HCJ) on proposed judicial performance benchmarks / standards related to the targeted judicial area and the relevant performance indicators by participating in a relevant focus group.

Cooperate effectively with the project team and report to the project management on completion of duties.

Form the judicial activity area 4- Court transparency:

Research the legal framework, work practices, case management systems, budgeting and human resources arrangements that underpin the court transparency, both in contemporary theory and Albanian practice.

Draft the Monitoring Guide for CSOs on judicial meritocracy based on previous relevant research work.

Consult/discuss with the High Council of Justice (HCJ) on proposed court performance benchmarks / standards related to the targeted judicial area and the relevant performance indicators by participating in a relevant focus group.

Cooperate effectively with the project team and report to the project management on completion of duties.

Qualifications:

General professional and technical skills:

University degree in legal studies. Master degree and above is an asset, or, in its absence, at least 12 years' equivalent professional experience in the sectors related to the rule of law and administration of justice

Very good theoretical knowledge of the judicial system, its functioning and its performance standards

Good knowledge of Albanian justice sector and its performance

Familiarity with the monitoring concepts and practice of performance indicators

Very good analytical skills

Good drafting skills for studies and reports

Computer literacy, familiarity with Microsoft Word

Specific professional knowledge and/or experience:

Good knowledge or experience in the access to justice and fair trial issues

Good knowledge of the judicial meritocracy issues

Good knowledge of the judicial integrity issues

Good knowledge of the court transparency issues

Other skills:

Good capacity of making comprehensive analysis

Good ability of writing clear, concise and analytic texts and assessments

Ability of working in team

Language skills:

Fluent in Albanian

Knowledge of written English is an asset

Application

To be considered, please send a CV and cover letter in Albanian, in which you briefly describe your interest for one of the four judicial activity areas and how you meet the requirements. If necessary, please, include copies of diplomas and certifications of long-term training. The application should be submitted by March 7, 2023 to: info@ipls.org

Please note that only short-listed individuals will be contacted by telephone. For questions regarding the position or the application, please contact at info@ipls.org.

For information about IPLS please see: www.ipls.org.



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