Terms of Reference
|
Nature of Consultancy |
Strategic Legislative Consulting (COVID-19)
|
|
Commissioned by: |
University of Ghana School of Law |
|
Application Deadline: |
13-December-2021 (Midnight, Ghana) |
|
Type of Contract: |
Either Individual, Team or Institutional Consultant |
|
Languages Required: |
English |
|
Starting Date: |
16-December-2021 |
Background
The Democratic Vigilance Project which is being implemented by the University of Ghana School of Law (UGSoL) with the support of GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), has been designed to take account of policy and legislative developments in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the project seeks to catalogue the deviations from normal governance procedures and from the bill of rights under the 1992 Constitution. It also seeks to educate and create public awareness and an incentive for vigilance, to pursue appropriate policy changes through sustained and targeted advocacy as well as to explore long-term solutions for how democratic governance can meet the challenges posed by the pandemic without eroding its essential character.
In this connection, the project entails six complementarity activities which seek to
-
Facilitate dialogue among relevant policy publics and enhance the participation of a critical mass of civic society in the debate and evaluation of COVID-19 induced measures in order to ensure an ongoing culture of critique and vigilance that enhances institutional and policy accountability;
-
Catalogue the range of exceptional legislative measures and executive orders that suspend protected rights, deviate from regular democratic practices and weaken necessary institutional checks and balances;
-
Catalogue and examine the impact of critical judicial decisions taken during, and in response to the pandemic; the access to justice challenges exposed by the pandemic, and the judicial reforms made urgent by it, including proposals to reform the rules of court, case management, (in)access to information for indigent users of the courts and entrenched corrupt practices in the court system;
-
Proactively engage and mobilise critical stakeholders towards the repeal of extra-ordinary measures taken during the pandemic; and the roll back of draconian policy measures, and new practices that undercut existing rights protections and could result in significant democratic reversal in key governance sectors;
-
Prepare civic organizations to adapt to the new reality of how they undertake advocacy, and protect civil liberties during a new reality of recurrent pandemics, through targeted adaptation skills trainings and operational manuals; and
-
Address how to ensure that electoral processes, election administration, and electioneering activities including the related rights to vote; to assemble; to express dissent without fear of repercussion; to access information; and to participate in free and fair elections can adapt to the reality of pandemics.
Description of the Assignment
This assignment is intended to support a Proactive Legislative Reform Action & Strategic Litigation project that seeks to proactively engage and mobilize critical stakeholders towards the repeal of extra-ordinary measures taken during the Pandemic, including through judicial action, drafting and laying of a private member bill in Parliament; the proposal of reforms to the rules of court, sentencing guidelines; etc.
Scope of Work
Under the overall supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor and Programmes Manager, the consultant/consulting firm is expected to:
-
Proactive Legislative Reform Action
The assignment will entail a three-prong action towards legislative reforms that includes
-
Development of Bills for Legislative Reform – This will consist in developing legislative proposals for an identified legislative instrument that is COVID-19 and other pandemic sensitive. The task will include (a) desktop technical research that will feed into a (b) memorandum for the legislation, and (c) the development of draft instrument.
-
The Gazetting and Laying of a Private Member’s Bill, through a Member or Member(s) of Parliament.
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Parliamentary (Bipartisan) consensus building – In support of the efforts to propose and lay the private member bill, this activity will entail holding meetings with the parliamentary leadership - including the speaker, Majority and Minority Leaders – and with the relevant parliamentary select and standing committees towards the building of bipartisan support for the private member bill.
-
Periodic Team & Strategy Meetings
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to hold periodic meetings and share data with the project team regarding the assignment. Consultant is expected to create separate folders for each set of material, label each file appropriately to allow for easy identification; and create an excel document that lists all materials gathered, their names, relevant dates and a synopsis of their content.
All materials prepared shall be signed off by the project team; and shall reflect the values of the project, donor and project team.
Application
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to submit an Expression of Interest, that includes a summary of past experiences, a workplan, and a Financial Proposal, that includes all user fees and professional fees.
The Expression of Interest should comment on the level of client support the consultant will provide, including relationship management, dedicated resources and complaint resolution procedure.
All applications shall be submitted by email to dvproject@ug.edu.gh cc: sdei-tutu@ug.edu.gh. The subject matter should include the nature of the consultancy.
Additional Information
The University of Ghana School of Law is an equal opportunity organization which welcomes applications from qualified professionals all over the country. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, political opinion, religion and creed, as the diversity of our applicant pool is critical to the University’s mission and success.
Terms of Reference
|
Nature of Consultancy |
Primary Research (Judicial Data Gathering)
|
|
Commissioned by: |
University of Ghana School of Law |
|
Application Deadline: |
13-December-2021 (Midnight, Ghana) |
|
Type of Contract: |
Either Individual, Team or Institutional Consultant |
|
Languages Required: |
English |
|
Starting Date: |
16-December-2021 |
|
Duration: |
2 weeks |
|
|
|
Background
The Democratic Vigilance Project which is being implemented by the University of Ghana School of Law (UGSoL) with the support of GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), has been designed to take account of policy and legislative developments in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the project seeks to catalogue the deviations from normal governance procedures and from the bill of rights under the 1992 Constitution. It also seeks to educate and create public awareness and an incentive for vigilance, to pursue appropriate policy changes through sustained and targeted advocacy as well as to explore long-term solutions for how democratic governance can meet the challenges posed by the pandemic without eroding its essential character.
In this connection, the project entails six complementarity activities which seek to
-
Facilitate dialogue among relevant policy publics and enhance the participation of a critical mass of civic society in the debate and evaluation of COVID-19 induced measures in order to ensure an ongoing culture of critique and vigilance that enhances institutional and policy accountability;
-
Catalogue the range of exceptional legislative measures and executive orders that suspend protected rights, deviate from regular democratic practices and weaken necessary institutional checks and balances;
-
Catalogue and examine the impact of critical judicial decisions taken during, and in response to the pandemic; the access to justice challenges exposed by the pandemic, and the judicial reforms made urgent by it, including proposals to reform the rules of court, case management, (in)access to information for indigent users of the courts and entrenched corrupt practices in the court system;
-
Proactively engage and mobilise critical stakeholders towards the repeal of extra-ordinary measures taken during the pandemic; and the roll back of draconian policy measures, and new practices that undercut existing rights protections and could result in significant democratic reversal in key governance sectors;
-
Prepare civic organizations to adapt to the new reality of how they undertake advocacy, and protect civil liberties during a new reality of recurrent pandemics, through targeted adaptation skills trainings and operational manuals; and
-
Address how to ensure that electoral processes, election administration, and electioneering activities including the related rights to vote; to assemble; to express dissent without fear of repercussion; to access information; and to participate in free and fair elections can adapt to the reality of pandemics.
Description of the Assignment
This assignment is intended to support a research project that seeks to catalogue and examine the short-, medium- and long-term judicial decisions that entrench the new covid-19 measures; review all aspects of the judicial value chain in order to identify structural challenges that have been made pressing by the covid-19 pandemic, including the out-of-date rules of court, case management practices, and entrenched practices in the court system, that limit access to justice and weaken the ability of stakeholders in the civic space to hold government accountable, and which are exacerbated during pandemics.
Scope of Work
Under the overall supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor and Programmes Manager, the consultant/consulting firm is expected to:
-
Data Gathering
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to search for, gather and compile into a database:
-
All orders made and all ruling on applications by the Superior Courts since January 2020
-
All human rights actions; administrative actions; and constitutional challenges filed since January 2020
-
All judgements made by the Superior Courts since January 2020
-
All appeals filed in the Appellate Courts since January 2020
-
Report on all criminal complaints filed since January 2020
-
All prosecutions commenced since January 2020
-
Information on administrative changes made by the Judiciary; Police and Prisons to addresses access to Justice challenges, in light of COVID-19
-
Preliminary Data Categorization and Description
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to create separate folders for each set of material, label each file appropriately to allow for easy identification; and create an excel document that lists all materials gathered, their names, relevant dates and a synopsis of their content.
Application
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to submit an Expression of Interest, that includes details of past experiences, a workplan, and a Financial Proposal.
All applications shall be submitted by email to dvproject@ug.edu.gh cc: sdei-tutu@ug.edu.gh. The subject matter should include the nature of the consultancy.
Additional Information
The University of Ghana School of Law is an equal opportunity organization which welcomes applications from qualified professionals all over the country. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, political opinion, religion and creed, as the diversity of our applicant pool is critical to the University’s mission and success.
Terms of Reference
|
Nature of Consultancy |
Strategic Public Interest Litigation (COVID-19)
|
|
Commissioned by: |
University of Ghana School of Law |
|
Application Deadline: |
13-December-2021 (Midnight, Ghana) |
|
Type of Contract: |
Either Individual, Team or Institutional Consultant |
|
Languages Required: |
English |
|
Starting Date: |
16-December-2021 |
Background
The Democratic Vigilance Project which is being implemented by the University of Ghana School of Law (UGSoL) with the support of GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), has been designed to take account of policy and legislative developments in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the project seeks to catalogue the deviations from normal governance procedures and from the bill of rights under the 1992 Constitution. It also seeks to educate and create public awareness and an incentive for vigilance, to pursue appropriate policy changes through sustained and targeted advocacy as well as to explore long-term solutions for how democratic governance can meet the challenges posed by the pandemic without eroding its essential character.
In this connection, the project entails six complementarity activities which seek to
-
Facilitate dialogue among relevant policy publics and enhance the participation of a critical mass of civic society in the debate and evaluation of COVID-19 induced measures in order to ensure an ongoing culture of critique and vigilance that enhances institutional and policy accountability;
-
Catalogue the range of exceptional legislative measures and executive orders that suspend protected rights, deviate from regular democratic practices and weaken necessary institutional checks and balances;
-
Catalogue and examine the impact of critical judicial decisions taken during, and in response to the pandemic; the access to justice challenges exposed by the pandemic, and the judicial reforms made urgent by it, including proposals to reform the rules of court, case management, (in)access to information for indigent users of the courts and entrenched corrupt practices in the court system;
-
Proactively engage and mobilise critical stakeholders towards the repeal of extra-ordinary measures taken during the pandemic; and the roll back of draconian policy measures, and new practices that undercut existing rights protections and could result in significant democratic reversal in key governance sectors;
-
Prepare civic organizations to adapt to the new reality of how they undertake advocacy, and protect civil liberties during a new reality of recurrent pandemics, through targeted adaptation skills trainings and operational manuals; and
-
Address how to ensure that electoral processes, election administration, and electioneering activities including the related rights to vote; to assemble; to express dissent without fear of repercussion; to access information; and to participate in free and fair elections can adapt to the reality of pandemics.
Description of the Assignment
This assignment is intended to support a Proactive Legislative Reform Action & Strategic Litigation project that seeks to proactively engage and mobilize critical stakeholders towards the repeal of extra-ordinary measures taken during the Pandemic, including through judicial action, drafting and laying of a private member bill in Parliament; the proposal of reforms to the rules of court, sentencing guidelines; etc.
Scope of Work
Under the overall supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor and Programmes Manager, the consultant/consulting firm is expected to:
-
Judicial Action
The assignment will consist of identifying, together with the Supervisor, a legislative or executive action that is susceptible to a constitutional challenge and develop a possible legal challenge; that is rights reinforcing and relates to a covid-19 legislative, executive or policy measure.
-
Periodic Team & Strategy Meetings
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to hold periodic meetings and share data with the project team regarding the assignment.
Consultant is expected to create separate folders for each set of material, label each file appropriately to allow for easy identification; and create an excel document that lists all materials gathered, their names, relevant dates and a synopsis of their content.
Arguments and lines of briefs prepared shall be signed off by the project team; and shall reflect the values of the project, donor and project team.
Application
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to submit an Expression of Interest, that includes a summary of past experiences, a workplan, and a Financial Proposal, that includes all Court User Fees and professional fees.
The Expression of Interest should comment on the level of client support it will provide, including relationship management, dedicated resources and complaint resolution procedure.
In order for a Firm to be eligible for evaluation and further consideration for selection, it must: Be in good standing with the General Legal counsel. Upon being chosen for the assignment, the Consultant shall submit the following documentation:
-
Income Tax Clearance Certificate.
-
Confirmation that there does not exist any conflict which would prevent the Firm or as the case may be any partner or professional associate from providing services requested; and
-
Details of any litigation, enforcement or disciplinary actions against the Firm, its partners or professional assistants relating to professional services during the last five (5) years.
All applications shall be submitted by email to dvproject@ug.edu.gh cc: sdei-tutu@ug.edu.gh. The subject matter should include the nature of the consultancy.
Additional Information
The University of Ghana School of Law is an equal opportunity organization which welcomes applications from qualified professionals all over the country. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, political opinion, religion and creed, as the diversity of our applicant pool is critical to the University’s mission and success.
Terms of Reference
|
Nature of Consultancy |
Primary Research (Legislative Data Gathering)
|
|
Commissioned by: |
University of Ghana School of Law |
|
Application Deadline: |
13-December-2021 (Midnight, Ghana) |
|
Type of Contract: |
Either Individual or Institutional Consultant |
|
Languages Required: |
English |
|
Starting Date: |
16-December-2021 |
|
Duration: |
2 weeks |
|
|
|
Background
The Democratic Vigilance Project which is being implemented by the University of Ghana School of Law (UGSoL) with the support of GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), has been designed to take account of policy and legislative developments in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the project seeks to catalogue the deviations from normal governance procedures and from the bill of rights under the 1992 Constitution. It also seeks to educate and create public awareness and an incentive for vigilance, to pursue appropriate policy changes through sustained and targeted advocacy as well as to explore long-term solutions for how democratic governance can meet the challenges posed by the pandemic without eroding its essential character.
In this connection, the project entails six complementarity activities which seek to
-
Facilitate dialogue among relevant policy publics and enhance the participation of a critical mass of civic society in the debate and evaluation of COVID-19 induced measures in order to ensure an ongoing culture of critique and vigilance that enhances institutional and policy accountability;
-
Catalogue the range of exceptional legislative measures and executive orders that suspend protected rights, deviate from regular democratic practices and weaken necessary institutional checks and balances;
-
Catalogue and examine the impact of critical judicial decisions taken during, and in response to the pandemic; the access to justice challenges exposed by the pandemic, and the judicial reforms made urgent by it, including proposals to reform the rules of court, case management, (in)access to information for indigent users of the courts and entrenched corrupt practices in the court system;
-
Proactively engage and mobilise critical stakeholders towards the repeal of extra-ordinary measures taken during the pandemic; and the roll back of draconian policy measures, and new practices that undercut existing rights protections and could result in significant democratic reversal in key governance sectors;
-
Prepare civic organizations to adapt to the new reality of how they undertake advocacy, and protect civil liberties during a new reality of recurrent pandemics, through targeted adaptation skills trainings and operational manuals; and
-
Address how to ensure that electoral processes, election administration, and electioneering activities including the related rights to vote; to assemble; to express dissent without fear of repercussion; to access information; and to participate in free and fair elections can adapt to the reality of pandemics.
Description of the Assignment
This assignment is intended to support a research project that seeks to keep track of the range of legislative measures and executive orders that have been adopted during the pandemic, and in response to it; to catalogue the deviations from the constitutional bill of rights; and to identify various right extending legislations which due to the focus on COVID-19 have seen their implementation stalled, including for instance the Right to Information Act.
Scope of Work
Under the overall supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor and Programmes Manager, the consultant/consulting firm is expected to:
-
Data Gathering
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to search for, gather and compile into a database:
-
All Acts of Parliament passed since January 2020
-
All Draft Bills proposed since January 2020 (irrespective of their current status)
-
All Constitutional Instruments passed since January 2020
-
All Legislative Instruments passed since January 2020
-
All Executive Instruments adopted since January 2020
-
All draft bills that were on the agenda of the 7th Parliament but did not get passed.
-
All International treaties ratified by Parliament since January 2020
-
All commercial agreements submitted to Parliament for approval since January 2020
-
All records of Parliamentary Hansards since January 2020
-
Records of all Parliamentary inquiries held since January 2020.
-
All Parliament Resolutions since January 2020.
-
All Byelaws passed since January 2020 in all the district assemblies.
-
Preliminary Data Categorization and Description
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to create separate folders for each set of material, label each file appropriately to allow for easy identification; and create an excel document that lists all materials gathered, their names, relevant dates and a synopsis of their content.
Application
The Consultant/Consulting Firm is expected to submit an Expression of Interest, that includes details of past experiences, a workplan, and a Financial Proposal.
All applications shall be submitted by email to dvproject@ug.edu.gh cc: sdei-tutu@ug.edu.gh. The subject matter should include the nature of the consultancy.
Additional Information
The University of Ghana School of Law is an equal opportunity organization which welcomes applications from qualified professionals all over the country. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, political opinion, religion and creed, as the diversity of our applicant pool is critical to the University’s success.