Consultancy on Establishing an Environmental Court (E-court) in Viet Nam

CONSULTANCY ADVERTISEMENT

Contractor’s Title:    Short-term consultancy
Contracted work:    Providing technical inputs to the concept note and proposal on establishing an environmental court (E-court) in Viet Nam 
Location of Services:    TBD
Date(s) of performance of Services:    10 February 2020 – 30 May 2020
Report to:    Program Manager of WCS Viet Nam

I.    Background: 

In the criminal justice system of Viet Nam, the police force has a specialized agency handling environmental crimes (Environmental Police Department), and the Supreme People’s Procuracy’s Department for Prosecution of Economic Crimes has a unit specializing in prosecuting environmental crimes. However, there is no such equivalent specialized environmental unit/division in the court system under the management of Supreme People’s Court of Viet Nam (SPC). Environmental cases have recently increased significantly, especially complex wildlife cases and the hearing of wildlife trafficking cases often requires technical knowledge for judgement. Thus, there is a need to establish an environmental court (E-court) to address this issue in Vietnam.

The SPC has asked WCS to support in drafting a proposal for establishing an E-court in Viet Nam. The proposal will consider the successes and failures of E-courts in other countries to identify the best model for Viet Nam’s judicial needs. WCS is now researching and collecting international examples of prominent E-courts that could provide SPC with an overview of international experiences and practices of E-court as well as their designated structure. Analysing examples of African E-courts with experience in handling wildlife crime, particularly Uganda/Kenya is a part of the work. As such, WCS is seeking a consultant with knowledge and experiences of E-courts in Uganda/Kenya for further research and input.

II.    Objectives:

• Develop an informed understanding of E-courts in African countries, particularly Uganda/Kenya, in order to share the advantages and disadvantages of these systems with Viet Nam’s SPC;
• Contribute to the development of the proposal on the establishment of an E-court in Viet Nam.

III.    Activities and work plan:

I.    Outputs / Deliverables:

• An overview of experiences, practices of E-courts and their designated structure in African countries; particularly an analysis of Uganda/Kenya's experience of handling wildlife crime via their e-courts, including the e-courts’ model of operation and jurisdiction;
• Inputs and comments on E-court proposal developed by SPC.

IV.    Requirements:

• Extensive knowledge of E-courts in African countries, especially Uganda and Kenya.
• Familiar with wildlife trafficking issue, especially adjudicating wildlife crime at the court system. 
• Strong legal research, analysis and reporting skills.
• Experience in drafting and revising legal and policy documents.
• Understanding of the court system and wildlife issue in Viet Nam is an advantage.

V.    Professional fee and expenses:

• A budget proposal will be proposed by consultant.
• Travel costs and expenses (if any) will be covered by WCS following WCS’s cost norm.

VI.    Application Procedure:

Interested candidates are invited to send their proposal including CV with proof of relevant experience Ms. Nguyen Thu My, Human Resource Officer of WCS, email address: [email protected] by 23:59 on 29 January 2020 at the latest.

Proposal email should have subject:  “Consultancy on establishing an environmental court (E-court) in Viet Nam”

Note: Only shortlisted candidate will be contacted.