Reference: SPED/PCWG/0619
Location: UK and field visits to selected Commonwealth countries
Duration: 45 person days (including field mission)
Closing Date: 10 Jan 2012
Background
As part of the ongoing programme of in-depth evaluation studies, the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division (SPED), in collaboration with the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division (LCAD), is undertaking an evaluation of the work undertaken by the Secretariat in supporting member countries in the area of Criminal Law between 2007-2011.
The Secretariat’s Strategic Plan’s (2008/09-2011/12) first strategic goal is “To support member countries to prevent or resolve conflicts, strengthen democratic practices and the rule of law, and enhance the protection of human rights”. LCAD, which implements the “Rule of Law” Programme of the Secretariat, contributes to this goal by “Supporting member countries to promote and strengthen the rule of law that underpins strong democratic and accountable governance and by assisting members to harmonise their national laws with international frameworks”. LCAD’s Criminal Law Section, which implements the Criminal Law mandates, contributes to this programme objective through their contribution to the following results, as defined in the Strategic Plan.
- Measures and strategies to combat transnational crime, counter-terrorism and anti-corruption developed, adopted, and effectively implemented;
- Criminal Justice actors are well trained and use best practice to respond effectively to transnational and domestic crimes;
- Criminal justice institutions and legal frameworks are established and strengthened for effective delivery of criminal justice;
- Criminal justice actors use tools produced by the Secretariat to enhance international cooperation on criminal matters; and
- International conventions on international and transnational crimes are adopted and implemented using model legislative provisions developed by the Secretariat.
The key beneficiaries in member countries are the criminal justice officials and institutions, i.e. the Police, Prosecutors and Judges.
The Criminal Law Section draws its mandates from Law Ministers and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings, which seek to strengthen criminal-justice institutions and enhance the capacity of criminal justice officials of member states. Some of these mandates address international and transnational crimes, by providing technical assistance to countries to enable them to implement the provisions of the various relevant international conventions and resolutions of the United Nations.
Between 2007 and 2011, the Criminal Law Section has had a number of specific mandates in the thematic areas of criminal law. Some of these mandates are in substantive areas of law while others are procedural, complementing the implementation of the substantive mandates. These include: Counter-Terrorism (CT), Anti-money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), International Cooperation, Prosecution Disclosure Obligations, Human Trafficking, Corruption, Anti-corruption Strategies for Commonwealth Small Jurisdictions, Victims/Witness Protection and Assistance and the International Criminal Court. These mandates have been implemented by the Secretariat through various projects.
In the delivery of its mandates the Section embarks on building the capacity of officials working in the criminal justice systems that are required to effectively implement measures that would promote and strengthen rule of law. It also includes the strengthening of criminal justice systems by providing bespoke assistance to legislative reforms. This approach acknowledges that member countries are at different stages of legal and structural developments, and therefore adopts regionally oriented/ in-country strategies to achieving results. These strategies include regional or in-country specific training workshops, mentoring, and placement of prosecutors, as well as the development of implementation kits, manuals and model legislation.
Purpose
The overall purpose of this evaluation is to assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact of the rule of law programmes delivered by the Criminal Law Section between 2007-2011 with a view to defining the focus and form the technical assistance programme should take, and to recommend strategic and operational changes that may be required by the Secretariat to make the delivery more focussed, relevant and sustainable. The evaluation will contribute to an overall review of LCAD’s criminal law work.
Specifically, the study will:
- Review the Criminal Law work of the Rule of Law programme against the relevant CHOGM and Ministerial mandates.
- Assess the effectiveness and impact of the assistance provided to member governments in strengthening their criminal-justice institutions and capacity of criminal justice officials.
- Evaluate the overall management approaches, including the design, modes of delivery and implementation strategies in terms of their relevance, efficiency and sustainability.
- Assess the Commonwealth (comparative) advantage of Secretariat’s work on criminal law in relation to a larger donor community involved in this area in member countries.
- Examine the extent to which the three mainstreaming areas of gender, human rights and youth have been incorporated into the design and delivery of Secretariat’s efforts.
- Assess the continued relevance of the Criminal Law work of the Rule of Law programme and assess its likely demand, including but not limited to content, focus and quality, over the coming years to inform recommendations on forward direction of the programme.
- Identify lessons learnt in the design and delivery of the Criminal Law mandates and recommend strategic and operational changes that may be required to make it more focussed, relevant and sustainable.
Scope and Focus
The evaluation period will cover Secretariat’s Criminal Law work implemented from 2007 onwards, though some reference may be required to mandates which had been carried forward from before, their implementation, results and any lessons that could usefully be applied in the forward direction of the programme. Based on the evaluation findings, the study is expected to propose both strategic and operational changes that would enable the Secretariat to better deliver its mandate.
Suggested Methodology
The Consultant will include the following key steps in the conduct of the evaluation for information collection, analysis and feedback during the study.
- Review of all pertinent records and data related to the Criminal law work of the Secretariat.
- Interviews of LCAD personnel and others engaged in the delivery of Criminal Law activities at the Secretariat.
- Interviews of selected stakeholders- governments, programme partners, collaborating institutions, and project beneficiaries- through field visits and electronically.
- Such additional activities as may be agreed with SPED Evaluation Section in order to enable the proper execution of the evaluation study.
Deliverables
The evaluation study will provide the following deliverables to the Secretariat:
- Evaluation framework with work plan and methodology
- Draft evaluation report
- A seminar/ presentation of the findings and recommendations
- Final evaluation report, incorporating all feedback/ comments
The deliverables must be submitted to SPED electronically as a Microsoft document. A draft Evaluation Report is to be submitted within two weeks of completion of the fieldwork stage. Following the presentation of the evaluation findings at a seminar at the Secretariat and receipt of feedback comments from the Secretariat and other stakeholders on the draft report, the evaluator is expected to submit a revised final Evaluation Report. The draft (and final) Evaluation Reports must be no more than 50 pages, excluding all annexes.
Schedule and Level of Effort
The study is planned to commence in February 2012. It is estimated that up to 45 consultant days will be appropriate to complete the study, including agreed field missions. Field missions will include fact finding missions to at least one country in the Commonwealth Region. The country will be finalized after the selection of the consultant(s) and after the review of pertinent records and data related to the Criminal Law work of the Secretariat.
The consultant(s) will work in close collaboration with the Secretariat (SPED / LCAD).
Consultant’s Specifications
The consultant/team must demonstrate professional expertise in the area of Criminal Law and must have a strong track record in evaluating development assistance activities, particularly in the area of evaluating Criminal Law work. In addition, work experience in and knowledge of the geographical regions of the Commonwealth will be an added advantage.
Download the Terms of Reference
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