The justice for children policy and its strategic plan intend to provide innovative guidance on how to improve justice for children and streamline any best practices identified in other East African Community and Commonwealth countries, in line with international commitments including the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice ("The Beijing Rules") and the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The Riyadh Guidelines). Among other improvements, the policy will recommend different measures focusing on the best interest of the child such as diversion, alternatives to imprisonment, penalty suspension, juvenile desk at police station, improved special chambers for juveniles’ hearing , permanent juvenile justice committees at national and district level comprising all judicial institutions (police, prosecution, judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Rwanda Correctional Service, CSO, educators, parents, FBO leaders, etc.).
The policy will emphasize a holistic approach needed for the treatment of children in conflict with the law, considering their background including the socio-economic situation of parents, education level, social environment, etc.; it will prioritize juvenile delinquency prevention, re-education and rehabilitation rather than punishment nor societal revenge; it will also suggest the best way of protecting child victims and witnesses when they are in contact with the law.
The policy will attempt to provide a child friendly Justice system in Rwanda which is to be understood as part of a broader child protection environment allowing the child to be healthy, well-educated and able to develop to his full potential in order to be a worthy citizen for himself, his family and his country.
Finally, the policy will also provide guidance on the best way of dealing with mothers with infants or expectant women who face justice, in an effort to prevent as much as possible the stay of any early-child in prison.
III Goals Based on the assessment to be carried out and interviews with all related institutions, the consultant will develop (i) A Justice for Children Policy and (ii) A costed Strategic Plan which presents the feasibility of:
a separate child friendly justice system, different from adults, in criminal matters;
shifting from the classic repressive justice to the restorative one, aiming at redress and rehabilitate the minor in conflict within the law ;
application on children in conflict with the law of educative and rehabilitative punishments rather than liberty depriving sentences;
lowering the hearing of suspected children to lower instance except for major crimes, in order to keep them closer to the community where their social background can be easily assessed;
releasing remanded children on parole and hold parents/ guardians responsible of their availability during the judicial process;
liberalizing legal counsel to children in conflict with the law and extending it to CSOs’ lawyers;
suspending sentence execution or applying alternative punishments for guilty mothers with infants and expectant women;
IV Tasks
The Consultant will:
Undertake a desk review of the legal and policy framework related to justice for children; organize meetings with key informants including the Ministry of Justice (MINIJUST), the Supreme Court, the General prosecutor’s office, the Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Bar Association, the Legal aid forum (LAF) and a sample of detained children;
Assess existing mechanisms for delinquency prevention including the Iwawa training and rehabilitation center and propose others, based on analysis of international instruments and/or experience in comparable countries within the Region or the Commonwealth community;
Suggest special treatment for crime prone children such as street children, domestic workers, drop-out of school children and children living within vulnerable household (child headed household, drunkard parents, life-diseased parents, extremely poor parents, single parent, polygamous household, etc..) as their experiences place them at higher risk of crime commission, resulting from higher unemployment rate, poor education, early parenthood, etc.;
Suggest appropriate mechanisms of sentencing and penalty serving for condemned mothers with children of less than three years or expectant women, in order not to undermine full development of their children;
Propose a mechanism for coordination of interventions at different levels (police, prosecution, courts; correctional and/or rehabilitation centers; etc..) which intervene in the life of the child in conflict with the law, from the time they are summoned until the time they are cleared/released and sent back to their communities;
Draft the Justice for Children Policy (and its Strategic Plan);
Propose a monitoring and evaluation strategy of the implementation of the Justice for children policy and its Strategic plan.
V Deliverables Under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice (MINIJUST), the consultant will carry the following tasks: 1- Desk review of the legal and policy framework related to justice for children; organize meetings with key informants including the Ministry of Justice (MINIJUST), the Supreme Court, the General prosecutor’s office, the Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Bar Association, the Legal aid forum (LAF) and sampled detained children; 2- Submit for approbation to MINIJUST and UNICEF a concept note – outlining the work plan and the methodology; 3- Develop a Zero Draft of the Justice for children Policy and its strategic plan and present them to the technical working group ; 4- Revise the Zero draft policy and strategic plan document based on the comments from the technical working group; 5- Present Draft One policy and strategic plan document to the Justice sector group ; 6- Review the Draft One based on received comments from the Justice sector group validation meeting and submit the Final policy and Strategic plan;
VI Duration: 15 weeks (75 working days)
VII Profile of the Consultant • Advanced university degree in law;
• Strong experiences in similar policies development in comparable countries;
• At least 10 years’ experience (5 years for a PHD holder) working with governments or civil society on similar tasks;
• Fluency in English and French;
• Solid communication, advocacy and interview skills;
• Passionate for the protection of Children.
All applications, CV and P11 should be sent to fmugabo@unicef.org
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