The USAID Rule of Law Program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is designed to strengthen the rule of law in Georgia by building the independence and effectiveness of justice sector institutions, enhancing access to justice for all segments of society, and increasing citizen and institutional oversight of justice sector institutions. The Program seeks to hire a local expert to conduct training on Litigation at the International Level for the Legal Aid Service (LAS) lawyers.

Background

One of the objectives of the Rule of Law Program is to improve access to justice for all in Georgia, by working with the LAS, a state-funded largest legal aid provider in Georgia, and CSOs delivering free legal assistance to socially vulnerable groups. The LAS provides legal assistance to beneficiaries through its bureaus and consultation centers across Georgia and litigates cases at national and international levels. To ensure the high quality of the provided services, the LAS needs to provide periodic capacity development opportunities for the lawyers. For this purpose, the Program will support the LAS and will secure expert assistance to conduct the training. This investment will ensure the high quality of provided services by the LAS in the long run.

Proposed Approach:

The Program seeks to hire a local expert who will conduct the training on Litigation at the International Level for the LAS lawyers. The specific topic of the training should address, but might not be limited to:

1. Legal procedures of litigation in front of the European Court of Human Rights.
2. Legal procedures for submitting the communication to UN bodies (CRC, CEDAW, CRPD).

The training will equip the participants with the necessary knowledge about the requirements for lodging and drafting an application with the ECtHR, the procedure that the Court applies to examine cases, the procedure for enforcing judgments supervised by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and procedures for submitting the communication to UN bodies.

The number of participants will be a maximum of 22. The two-day training will be conducted outside of Tbilisi, in the second half of September.

Timeline

The consultancy period will be September-October 2024.

The estimated level of effort will be up to 8 working days for an expert, including 1 day for a meeting with LAS representatives, 4 days for preparation, 2 days of training, and 1 day for a consultancy report.

Reporting

The expert will work closely with Mariam Gaiparashvili, Legal Aid Advisor, and report to Mariam Gaiparashvili, and Giorgi Chkheidze, Chief of Party.

Deliverables

The expert will provide the following deliverables:

1. The expert will have a working meeting with LAS to identify their needs and reflect all relevant topics in training program.
2. Develop a training program (agenda, materials).
3. Conduct the training.
4. Consultancy report summary with recommendations.

Requirement and Eligibility*

Qualifications and experience:

1. University degree in Law.
2. At least 5 years of professional experience in a relevant field. 
3. At least 3 years of experience in conducting similar trainings.
4. Experience working with service delivery organizations.
5. Excellent communication and presentation skills.
6. Computer literacy (Internet, Microsoft Office programs, etc.).

To apply, potential candidate(s) need to present:

1. Cover Letter, addressing the criteria above.
2. CV, with a detailed list of qualifications.
3. Draft agenda and basic methodology of the training.
4. Cost proposal, including the proposed gross daily rate in USD (expert honorarium only).

*Applications will be reviewed based on the above-provided Requirement and Eligibility criteria.

The Program retains the right to select any or none of the applications. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

The application must be submitted in English. The application should be e-mailed to: info.rolp@ewmi.org

Please include the following text in the subject line: Training on Litigation at the International Level for LAS Lawyers.

The deadline for application submissions is midnight, September 6, 2024 (Georgia time).