Terms of Reference Title Purpose Location Contract Duration Contract Supervision National Consultant Expert on Gender and Criminal Law Support the review of the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code in Viet Nam in relation to violence against women Ha Noi, Viet Nam 17 August 2015 to 18 December 2015 (22 working days) National Programme Officer on Governance 1. Background Equality between women and men has been guaranteed in Viet Nam s Constitutions since 1945. The country has made great strides in developing its legal system since committing to a rule-of-law state in 1991 and adopting a judicial reform policy in 2005. These reforms, along with the passage of the 2006 Law on Gender Equality, firmly illustrate the Government s commitment towards gender equality and building a just and democratic legal system which addresses the needs of all Vietnamese citizens. However, despite this progress, gaps still exist in laws and policies which in many cases are gender blind. Preliminary analysis of the 1999 Penal Code and 2003 Criminal Procedure Code conducted by UN Women and UNODC in 2013 found that women in Viet Nam still encounter many difficulties within the criminal justice system, whether they are victims or perpetrators of crimes.0f1 Viet Nam is undergoing a reform of the criminal justice system particularly through revising the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code since 2013. During the National Assembly session held in May/June 2015, the draft revised Penal and Criminal Procedure Codes were submitted for the first reading and discussion. In preparation for the amendment, UN Women and UNODC have supported the legal drafters through the Ministry of Justice to conduct an analysis of the current legal framework against international normative frameworks and best practices to protect women from violence against women.1f2 The review has focused on cases of violence against women and examined relevant national laws and decrees such as the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control, Law on Prevention and Suppression against Human Trafficking, Law on Gender Equality, Law on Reconciliation, Law on Marriage and Family and Law on Handling Administrative Violations to obtain a comprehensive view of inconsistencies and gaps in these legislations. 1 UN Women/UNODC, Assessment of the Situation of Women In the Criminal Justice System in Viet Nam, 2013: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//vietnam/publication/2014/women_in_justice._engli sh.pdf 2 International normative frameworks include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), other human rights instruments that the Viet Nam government ratified, Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), Commission on the Status of Women Agreed Conclusions and other international commitments, including the United Nations Updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (GA resolution 65/228 of December 2010). 1
In addition, UN Women will continue supporting the criminal law reform through providing technical assistance to the Parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs (PCSA) that has the mandate to review legislations submitted to the National Assembly from a gender-based perspective. In this regard, UN Women will engage a national consultant with expertise on gender, human rights and criminal law to further analyse the national debates of the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code in relation to violence against women and support PCSA to further scrutinize the draft amended Codes against international human rights law, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The national consultant will provide analysis of the gaps and support PCSA to advocate for the recommendations which are aimed at strengthening Viet Nam s criminal justice system in response to violence against women. 2. Objectives of the consultancy The overall purpose of this consultancy is: 1. Assist in building the understanding of the government drafting team, PCSA and other MPs regarding the international normative standards and good practices related to addressing violence against women that the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code revision should take into consideration. 2. Contribute revising the UN Joint Recommendations on the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code in relation to addressing violence against women. 3. Consultant s scope of work The national consultant will liaise and work closely with UN Women, PCSA and the legal drafting team throughout the consultancy process. Based on the previously conducted desk review, the national consultant will use the international normative frameworks on human rights and criminal justice to identify inconsistencies and gaps in the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code with a particular focus on improving the response to violence against women. The national consultant is expected to: a. Analyze and identify strengths, weaknesses and gaps in the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code focusing on violence against women from an international human rights, criminal law and gender equality perspective; b. Propose specific revisions, with options, which will provide for substantive gender equality and protection of women s human rights in these Codes and the related laws and decrees; and c. Develop understanding of relevant stakeholders, including legal professionals (both governmental and non-governmental) and especially the government drafting team members and PCSA on the international human rights and gender equality standards that should be respected in the revision of the two Codes, and assist the drafting team with formulation of recommendations for revisions to the codes. 4. Timeframe The consultancy will be for a maximum of 22 working days within the period from 17 August 2015 to 18 December 2015. The following provides the suggested breakdown of days: 2
Tasks 1 Conduct analysis of the reports on the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Codes submitted to the NA as well as the debate during the NA session against international normative standards on VAW described in UN Women/UNODC desk review report; (5 working days) 2 Provide comments to PCSA s desk review report based on the gaps between their report and UN s desk review report; (1 working day) 3 Update the UN policy briefs on the two Codes with emphasis on areas which lack understanding by MPs, edit and correct Vietnamese translation of related UN Women reports; (3 working day) 4 Design and facilitate a workshop in Ha Noi to build the understanding of legal drafters, PCSA and other MPs regarding the international human rights and gender equality standards and international good practices that they can refer to in the amendment of the two Codes. The workshop should provide an opportunity for open dialogues on how to address VAW cases and build understandings of UN recommendations; including half day meeting with PCSA to share key recommendations and finalise the workshop agenda. (4 working days) 5 Participate in briefing meetings with UN agencies and other relevant stakeholders to present preliminary analysis and key recommendations on the criminal law amendments; (0.5 working day) 6 Follow the debate at the 10 th NA session and summarize key discussion points on VAW; (4.5 working days) 7 Develop a summary report which analyses the amended Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code against UN recommendations and propose follow-up action plans in order to strengthen the criminal justice response to VAW cases. (4 working days) Timeframe Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 5. Deliverables and payment schedule The payment will be provided in two instalments as bellow: Time Amount Expected deliverables 30 September 60% Initial report analysing pre-submitted national reports and debate at the 2015 9 th NA session; Comments to updated PCSA report; Revised UN policy briefs on Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code; Finalized UN Women reports; Workshop agenda and relevant materials; 18 December 2015 40% Summary report including reflections from the workshop and debate at the 10 th NA session as well as proposals for follow-up actions. 3
6. Contract supervision UN Women has overall management of the work of the international consultant. The consultant will work under the supervision of the UN Women National Programme Officer and will be ultimately responsible to the UN Women Country Representative in Viet Nam. 7. Qualifications Educational background: Master s degree in law, preferably with a focus on international law on human rights or criminal justice Experience At least 10 year experience working in the area of gender and the law, particularly related to VAW, including experience facilitating trainings Experience in criminal justice reform from a gender perspective Experience working with government officers and law makers Competencies Strong analytical skills, especially in conducting rights-based assessments Familiarity with UN advocacy for legal reforms Language requirements Fluency in spoken and written English is essential 8. Application evaluation criteria The applicant will be evaluated based on technical capacities (70%) and financial proposal (30%). Technical evaluation will be based on the following criteria stated below. 1 Master s degree in law, preferably with a focus on international law on human rights 15 points or criminal justice 2 At least 10 year experience working in the area of gender and the law, 25 points particularly related to VAW, including experience facilitating trainings 3 Experience in criminal justice reform from a gender perspective 20 points 4 Experience working with government officers and law makers 10 points 5 Strong analytical skills, especially in conducting rights-based assessments 15 points 6 Familiarity with UN advocacy for legal reforms 5 points 7 Fluency in spoken and written English is essential 10 points Total Obtainable Score 100 points A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the submissions, with evaluation of the technical components being completed prior to any price proposals being opened and compared. The price proposal will be opened only for submissions that passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the evaluation of the technical component. The technical component is evaluated on the basis of its responsiveness to the Term of Reference (TOR). Technically qualified consultants may be selected for an interview before financial evaluation. Maximum 100 points will be given to the lowest offer and the other financial proposals will receive the points inversely proportional to their financial offers. i.e. Sf = 100 x Fm / F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price and F the price of the submission under consideration. 4
The weight of technical points is 70% and financial points is 30%. The award of the contract will 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. 9. Application procedure and deadline Interested applicants must submit the following document/information (in PDF format) to demonstrate their qualifications Technical component Letter of interest explaining why the candidate is most suitable for the work. Signed curriculum vitae with contact details of 03 clients for whom the candidate has rendered preferably similar services. 3 working papers/reports/articles on gender issues to demonstrate the candidate s analytical skills. Financial proposal The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount in US Dollar including consultancy fees and all associated costs i.e. airfares, travel cost, meal, accommodation, tax, insurance etc. Please note that the cost of preparing a proposal and of negotiating a contract, including any related travel, is not reimbursable as a direct cost of the assignment. If quoted in other currency, prices shall be converted to US Dollar at UN Exchange Rate at the submission deadline. Complete applications should be sent to procurement.vietnam@unwomen.org. Only applications will all items mentioned above will be considered. Deadline for Application: 10 August 2015. NOTE: Documents required before contract signing: UN Personal History Form Full medical examination and Statement of Fitness to work and travel at their own cost for consultants with travel involved (This is not a requirement for RLA contracts) Individual subscribers over 65 years of age are required to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays at their own cost and obtaining medical clearance from the UN Medical Director prior to taking up their assignment. Release letter in case the selected consultant is government official. 10. Approval This TOR is approved by: Signature Name and Designation Date of Signing 5