| Introduction : Country: Cox'sbazar, Bangladesh
Description of the Assignment: The influx of around 745,000 Rohingya people into Bangladesh since August 2017 has placed enormous pressure on host communities in Cox's Bazar and the Government of Bangladesh (GoB). It has also amplified pre-existing security and social issues like – drug smuggling, human trafficking, violence against women and children, unemployment etc. Impacts of the influx have been severe and far-reaching. Given the conflict risks in the district, the project aims to focus on reducing social tensions and tackling the underlying causes of those tensions - both immediate and longer-term drivers. Enhancing Community Safety, Peaceful Coexistence and Access to Justice Project (CSPC) project is designed on the work and lessons of UNDP - C2RP project and uses an area based approach that integrates strongly cross-linked interventions between community security, peaceful coexistence and access to justice with participatory local governance to implement the following interventions. The formal judiciary is extremely overburdened with huge case backlogs and as per the Supreme Court of Bangladesh report there are over 4 million cases are pending for around 1,900 judges for dispensation of justice till September 30, 2022. There are also around 37000 cases are pending in the Cox’s Bazar District Judiciary and only 41 Judges are responsible to deal the cases. According to the statistics of Women and Tribunal Court of Cox’s Bazar around 9000 cases are pending for three judges so, the rate of case disposal is very low though there are other factors that delayed the case and finally it is long pending. This Huge burden of pending cases extends the delay of disposal in both civil and civil matters. It is estimated on a study by UNDP that the litigants visit on average 63 times and the average duration of a civil and criminal case is 5.3 years and 3.7 years that increases litigation costs and discourages justice seekers to get remedy through formal judicial system. Furthermore, the Supreme court has identified four major causes behind the backlog situations, namely – · Insufficient human resources (Judges, Staff members) · Inadequate knowledge, skills and motivation · Ineffective and outdated Rules/Orders, policies and systems · Insufficient physical facilities. It is really a matter of great concern that more than 5000 cases are pending for 22 years in the lower courts across the country, said a statistic of the Supreme Court. There are lots of cases which are under judicial process for more than 35 years. The Enhancing Community Safety, Peaceful Coexistence and Access to Justice Project (CSPC) of CXB is supporting relevant Government agencies including judicial sectors and other local justice sector institutions to increase their capacity to mitigate limitations and ensure access to justice for both the Rohingya and host communities. As the project is working to strengthen the capacity of the host community and government intuitions as well as justice institutions to ensure quality justice services to the host community and also to establish social peace so, need to expedite trial of cases in the Courts of Sessions/Tribunals and Judicial Magistracy of Cox’s Bazar through enhancing knowledge, skills of the relevant actors on court and case management and trial, that also can contribute to reduce case backlog and ensure speedy justice delivery. Against this backdrop, the CSPC project aims to hire a consultant who will develop content and assess capacity gap and need for the relevant stakeholders especially New Lawyers Groups to facilitate the smooth court procedure to reduce the case backlogs. This support will include developing a research-based case management (trial stage) module on criminal and civil cases for judges and lawyers, as well as facilitate training in accordance with the project plan. Period of assignment/services: The consultant for the proposed assignment will support the CSPC Project by conducting the research on the causes of case backlog creating impact on the delayed justice delivery for the respective Court of Sessions/Tribunals/Judicial Magistracy and develop new curriculum and training module for the Lawyers on Criminal and Civil Case Management (Trail Cases). The consultant is also expected to facilitate batches of training for the lawyers, judges and court staffs in collaboration with District Judiciary. Finally, submit the training report together with the evaluation and recommendations. The Consultant will be responsible for implementing the assignment in collaboration with District Judiciary and CXB District Bar Association. Under the Access to Justice component of the CSPC Project, the consultant will work under the supervision of the Project Manager – CSPC Project and implement the following deliverables mentioned below - 1. Conduct desk research on the causes on causes of case backlog for the Court of Session/Tribunals/Judicial Magistracy - · Develop a reasoned methodology, inception report with a detailed work plan and time frame on the assignment. · Conduct in-depth desk research on the causes of case backlogs creating impact for the delayed justice delivery for the respective Court of Sessions/Tribunals/Judicial Magistracy. · Facilitate consultations with relevant judicial actors including District Judge, Judicial Magistracy, District Bar Association and other actors. 2. Develop training curriculum and materials based on desk-based research, consultation and plan, including modules – · Coordinate and consult with UNDP, District Judiciary and relevant sectors to develop all draft learning materials including agendas, templates, and curricula for capacity development training for the lawyers, judges and court staffs on Civil and Criminal Case Management and Trail Process. · Ensure the development of the required materials and curricula includes dynamic training sessions with, engaging and interactive trainings for participants, using relevant tools; · Finalize training curricula and ensure the relevant actors deeply understand and contribute to the process of development including through problem framing, problem analysis, development challenge and cost of inaction involved, areas to be addressed, problem-solving, long-term development objectives, cost of action or budgeting, and adaptive results-based management framework, including by presenting final curriculum. 3. Facilitate training, and workshops for 300 lawyers, Judges and Court Staffs in coordination with Cox’s Bazar District Judiciary and District Bar Association in Case Management for Criminal and Civil Cases. 4. Facilitate inter-govt agency dialogue on policies and legal framework, procedures and practices, gap and concerns to address the existing issues related with justice services through tribunals, magistrate courts and free legal aid services and develop study report for future A2J programme design on inclusive, non-discriminatory, and speedy justice service. 5. Conduct rapid assessment and study on rapid assessment on the witness protection mechanism and virtual wetness deposition mechanism for the district Judiciary; conduct dialogues with Judicial actors and UN agencies and prepare assessment report. Proposal should be submitted directly in the portal no later than indicated deadline. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing via messaging functionality in the portal. UNDP will respond in writing including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry.
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