Job Title: NATIONAL CONSULTANT
UHRC/OHCHR
Job Description
UHRC/OHCHR JOINT Project to MONITOR MILITARY COURTS’ COMPLIANCE WITH THE DECISION TO END TRIAL OF CIVILIANS AND ENSURE TRANSFER CASES TO CIVILIAN COURTS IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS
NATIONAL CONSULTANT TO UNDERTAKE FIELD-BASED RESEARCH AND DEVELOP ANALYTICAL REPORT ON STATUS OF CASES WITHIN THE COURT MARTIAL SYSTEM, CURRENT GAPS AND APPROPRIATE TRANSFER STRATEGY
Background:
In 2006, the Constitutional Court in Uganda Law Society V. AG (Constitutional Petition No. 18/2005) declared the trial of civilians in military court martial unconstitutional, a decision that was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court on appeal in AG V. Uganda Law Society (Constitutional Appeal SCCA No. 1/2006) in 2009. Recently in September 2011, UPDF Defence and Army Spokesperson announced that a directive had been issued by the UPDF administration to cease the trial of civilians in court martial. On this basis, the Uganda Human Rights Commission whose mandate is to protect and promote human rights as guaranteed by the Constitution and other binding human rights instruments, in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Uganda office whose mandate includes providing technical assistance to the competent authorities in relation to measures to promote and protect human rights in the country, will undertake a joint project to monitor the operation and process of transfer of civilian cases from court martial system to ordinary civilian courts to assess the effective implementation of the UPDF directive, the operation and functionality of the court martial system to determine the extent of compliance to established standards of fair trial and due process with a view to identify capacity gaps and recommend appropriate procedural and institutional reforms.
Objectives/Purpose
Uganda Human Rights Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Uganda (OHCHR) seek to engage a national consultant to implement specific activities under this project and in particular the following:
Conduct research on the operations of the court martial system in Uganda in order to assess the military courts’ compliance with the national, regional and international human rights instruments and principles of fair trial guarantees and the due process of the law.
To monitor and ensure that the applied transition process and procedure of transfer of civilian cases to the ordinary court system conforms to established principles of fair trial and due process.
The consultant in close collaboration with UHRC/OHCHR will also assess the Court martial trials where military personnel are tried and prosecuted for human rights violations in response to the right to effective remedy with a view to inform necessary institutional reforms and strategies.
Location : Uganda
Application Deadline : 22nd January 2012
Type of Contracts : Individual Contractor (IC)
Languages Required : English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidates are expected to start) 6th February 2012
Duration of Initial Contract : 8 months
How to Apply
For further details on the terms of reference and application processes, please visit http://jobs.undp.org/ and submit applications based on the instructions provided online.
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
UNDP is an equal opportunity employer.
Qualified women are highly encouraged to apply.
