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Country: Lao PDR.

Description of the Assignment:

Objective

The overall objective of this consultancy is to provide technical and facilitation support to the lawyer networks, mentoring programme and study visits, and produce a legal handbook. This is to ensure that lawyer networks’ activities are implemented effectively, and the legal handbook is comprehensively produced to benefit Lao lawyers and other legal professionals.

Scope of Work

The International Consultant will work with the project team, project associate, project coordinator/manager of the Lawyer Project under the supervision of the UNDP Governance Team Leader. The consultant will be responsible for:

1. Support establishing and activating the lawyers’ networks as well as female lawyers’ network by conducting network activities, including inductions, capacity building training and study visits. This also involves designing and developing relevant materials for the introduction and/or training workshops of the lawyers’ networks, their benefits and activities to promote networking and knowledge sharing among lawyers. It is imperative that these initiatives ensure continuous engagement of lawyers, gender sensitivity, and sustainability of the networks in the future.

2. Facilitate the study visits of the group of LBA’s Master Trainers and Continued Professional Development (CPD) supervisory team, key committed lawyers from the networks and potential mentors, this may include the support on the induction of mentors

3. Conduct consultations with the LBA/Lao lawyers and other stakeholders and research on best practices and international legal resources to design and produce a Legal Handbook for Lao lawyers on providing legal services in the specific areas identified as their needs.

The consultant is expected to work closely with the Lao consultant, the relevant partners, other lawyer networks, senior and junior lawyers, and institutes, development partners in the justice sector, the LBA, MOJ, and other justice actors, to ensure that this consultancy delivers good outcomes.

The tasks of the International Consultant will include:

Task 1: Support the establishment of a network of highly committed lawyers and a network of female lawyers

· Design and develop awareness raising materials (i.e. brochure) to introduce the networks of lawyers and female lawyers, their objectives, benefits, and activities.

· Design, prepare and conduct the two-day event consisting of i) an induction workshop for the general lawyer network, and ii) a legal professional training to establish a pool of interested lawyers and build a platform for lawyers to connect for networking, exchange knowledge and experiences in their areas of expertise.

· Design, prepare and conduct the two-day event consisting of i) an induction workshop for the female lawyer network, and ii) a legal professional training to establish the network of female lawyers and enhance their capacity to perform their legal professions

Task 2: Facilitate the implementation of female lawyers’ and general lawyers’ network activities

· Lead on designing and building partnerships with potential host institutions to conduct activities of a study visit in Thailand for highly committed lawyers selected from the two lawyer networks to exchange legal knowledge and skills, and networking best practices with other lawyer networks and institutes.

· Facilitate and support the study visit in Thailand.

· Design and facilitate retreat for lawyers, including the general lawyer network and female lawyer network.

Task 3: Provide logistic, facilitating and coordinating Support to the LBA on a study mission to the Bar Association of another jurisdiction with a focus on Continued Professional Development (CPD) and other good practices deemed important to LBA functions.

· Provide remote support to leverage the connection with the Bar Association of another jurisdiction in Asia, taking the lead in preparing and coordinating a study visit for the Master Trainers, advisory CPD team, and leaders of the LBA to strengthen their expertise on CPD and CPD programme management.

· Provide logistic, facilitating, and coordinating support to the project and LBA teams to ensure that their abroad mission/study visit is fruitfully completed.

· Provide technical expertise to lead in facilitating the organization of all activities during a study visit.

Task 4: Conduct consultations with the LBA, individual lawyers/group of lawyers and other legal actors to assess the needs of their legal knowledge/expertise that could help to support/upskill their legal practitioners, and for practicing lawyers.

· Lead on conducting consultations with the LBA, individual lawyers/group of lawyers and other legal actors to identify specific areas of the Legal Handbook that Lao lawyers need and the existing domestic legal materials/guidelines that will help to further develop the Legal Handbook suitable for the Lao local context.

· Conduct comprehensive research on best practices and international legal resources to synthesize relevant information to inform the substance, structure, and components of the Legal Handbook as a practical and user-friendly tool for Lao lawyers to provide their legal services.

· Study Lao laws/legislation to see if those key legislation pieces can be combined and summarized as part of the Legal Handbook for the benefit of Lao lawyers.

Task 5: Produce a comprehensive, accessible, and practical Legal Handbook in Lao Language (with the support of a Lao national consultant) for Lao lawyers

· Utilize findings from the need assessments, and study of the Lao laws/legislation and research on international best practices to design the content of the Legal Handbook in Lao language that addresses the unique professional challenges faced by Lao lawyers and their diverse needs. Ensure that the Legal Handbook provides practical and clear guidance for Lao lawyers to provide their legal services within the specific areas identified.

· Prepare drafts of the Legal Handbook for review by relevant stakeholders, including the LBA, incorporate feedback, and make necessary revisions to enhance the quality and applicability of the Legal Handbook.

· Finalize the Legal Handbook and present it to the LBA and relevant stakeholders for approval.

Period of assignment/services: 75 working days over 12 months.

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