Legal Analysis and Assessment Scoping Paper Legal Aid Consultancy 66 views0 applications

1. SUMMARY
   Given the high level of protection needs in Libya, DRC is aiming to broaden its current protection programming to include a legal aid component which addresses some of the identified barriers of conflict-affected people (i.e. IDPs, returnees, migrants and asylum seekers) to rights and services which have arisen as a result of their displacement. This document defines the scope of the ground work required by the Protection – Legal Aid Consultant in order to establish said legal aid programming and to ensure that it is an integrated component with DRC Libya’s greater protection response.

2. BACKGROUND
   2.1 Country context
   Since the outbreak of conflict in 2011, Libya continues to suffer from the impact of a protracted political crisis, economic decline and intermittent hostilities, which affects an estimated 1.6 million people in 2018 (Libya HNO 2019). Despite a few positive trends in 2018, the humanitarian situation in Libya remains fragile as the absence of governance and rule of law contribute to widespread insecurity and lawlessness with an increase in abductions, targeted killings, robberies and trafficking. An overall absence of governance and rule of law have resulted in a culture of impunity which exposes the population to violations of IHL and IHRL, including killings, abductions, arbitrary detentions and torture. These compounded political, security and economic factors have severely affected the ability of families to withstand the impacts of the protracted crisis and ensure their basic welfare, let alone for the authorities to adequately manage the myriad of factors affecting mixed migration flows in the country.
   Mixed migration routes from western, central and eastern Africa converge in Libya, with an estimated seven hundred thousand irregular migrants and refugees attempting to either work in, or transit through the country to Europe. Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are exposed to grave human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture, execution, rape, abduction for ransom, forced labour, and the risk of refoulement. The absence of an overall legal framework which distinguishes between people in need of international protection (including victims of trafficking or those seeking asylum) and other groups results in a vacuum of accountability or judicial oversight for the abuses that they face. Migrants are targeted in a context where police, militias, smugglers, traffickers, criminal gangs, and civilians detain migrants, asylum seekers and refugees with impunity, use them to extort money or force them into unpaid labour. At the root of much of these violations, these groups often lack civil documentation, or more importantly recognized right of entry/stay in Libya which in turn limits access to services, or legal work.
   In the dynamic conflict environment, Libyans face another set of challenges such as protracted displacement, targeted killings/kidnappings, forced evictions or prevented returns, seizure of property and exclusion (based on tribal or political affiliation) from claiming right to restitution and compensation. Lack of civil documentation for IDPs, returnees and an undefined number of de facto stateless groups, in turn impacts enjoyment of social benefits (including pensions), access to services or involvement in political processes, as well as housing, land and property claims. Thousands of political and (what are known as) conflict prisoners (including minors) are known to be held without recourse to justice in Libya’s state-run prison system.
   The general indiscriminate attacks on civilians, criminality, extortion, arbitrary detention and kidnapping are human rights concerns common to all population groups.
   2.2 DRC Libya protection programming
   DRC Libya has been providing protection services and assistance to various vulnerable groups, including both Libyans and non-Libyans, since 2014. Up until now, DRC’s intervention has been built on two separate but complementary programmes, one targeting Libyan IDPs and returnees and the other one targeting migrants and refugees. Moving forward as a coherent, non-status-based protection programme, DRC will continue to conduct protection monitoring to identify key protection risks and trends, provide IPA, referrals, PSS/PFA and case management. DRC Libya is in the process of setting community centre to provide a better platform for its outreach, services and community based protection activities.
   Many of the barriers that prevent these populations from fulfilling their basic needs, claiming their rights and protections, or from accessing services (including health care, justice and education) stem from their legal status or absence of civil documentation. Therefore, in order to address these protection needs, DRC will broaden its current protection programming to include a legal aid component which addresses some of these identified barriers. As such, DRC envisages legal aid programming as a key component of its integrated protection response to achieve protection outcomes.
3. SCOPE OF CONSULTANCY
   3.1 Consultancy objectives:
   As mentioned above, DRC Libya would like to establish a legal aim component within its protection programme. The Consultant will therefore be responsible for the strategic development and initial set-up phase of DRC’s legal aid programming for all populations of concern. In line with DRC’s global guidelines which require both a legal analysis and legal needs assessment be conducted as a prerequisite to designing and commencing legal aid activities, core responsibilities will include, 1) writing a comprehensive legal analysis, 2) developing the methodology and execution of legal needs assessment, 3) providing recommendations for activity design and resource allocation required to fully establish the legal aid activities. All work should be aligned with existing DRC programming priorities and principles, with particular linkages to DRC’s protection programme.
   In terms of linkages with DRC’s overall humanitarian mandate in Libya, the legal assessment and solutions should be oriented around reducing the barriers to already identified community priorities: 1) shelter, 2) livelihoods/income, 3) food, 4) health, 5) education.

3.2 DRC definition and purpose of legal aid

DRC Legal Aid programming consists of two components:

Legal aid services which DRC provides with the purpose of targeting the conflict- and displacement affected people include:
• Legal information dissemination / awareness raising;
• Legal counselling;
• Legal assistance; and
• Legal representation

DRC global approach: Legal aid needs of conflict- and forced displacement-affected people arise from the onset of crises and evolve through displacement stages and processes until solutions are found. As such, legal aid work is an important component when providing protection and assistance during acute crisis phase, displacement, and in finding solutions to displacement.
Often times, legal aid needs related to conflict and forced displacement inhibit peoples’ ability to access humanitarian assistance and services including education, healthcare, shelter and employment opportunities. Peoples ability to freely move and travel, to seek asylum, to be reunited with their family, and to remedy human rights violations, depends on safe, impartial access to legal information and services. Legal aid is a component of DRC’s Protection work that aims to address protection and displacement needs through an integrated and rights-based approach. This includes working with people by reducing vulnerabilities and supporting capacities to realise their rights, while at the same time working with duty bearers to ensure rights are respected, protected and fulfilled. Legal aid programming is a key component of DRC’s protection work and should be reflected in DRC’s protection analysis and strategy, and form part of our holistic – integrated response to achieve protection outcomes.
3.3 Legal analysis
The purpose of a legal analysis is to enable evidence-informed action for quality protection outcomes. A legal analysis is a process undertaken to understand the legal and situational environment within the country operation – providing a holistic view of the legal environment that enables DRC to make informed decisions about DRC’s future legal aid intervention. This includes information about legal and protection issues or challenges, applicable legal frameworks and policies, and legal aid stakeholders. A legal analysis starts by a desk review whereby information related to the context and legal environment is being analyzed.
DRC and other actors have accumulated extensive information on the Libyan legal framework. The consultant will therefore commence with a desk review of existing resources to produce a summarized, written analysis, as well as to identify existing gaps for further exploration during the legal needs assessment.
3.4 Legal needs assessment
DRC’s global guidelines require country programmes to conduct a legal aid needs assessment to provide the evidence to make informed decisions about legal aid interventions. Assessment findings will help DRC answer the following components:
• Demographic and geographic priorities
• Priority legal aid issues, gaps, challenges (including access to and availability of legal aid services)
• Capacities of stakeholders
• Coping mechanisms
Through its various programmatic activities, including protection monitoring, IPA and case management, DRC has already collected a wealth of primary data about the legal aid issues and needs affecting both Libyan IDPs, host communities and returnees as well as migrants and refugees. Therefore, the needs assessment should commence with a review and analysis of the available programmatic data complemented by a review and analysis of secondary sources. If needed, thematic data collection exercises such as FGDs or interviews with consulates may be needed to complement the available the information which is already available.
Primary sources
Through its regular protection activities, DRC does collect a notable amount of relevant information on protection needs and issues related to legal aid. The two main source of primary data collection include protection monitoring and the caseload of persons assisted through IPA or case management.
Known gaps requiring further data collection
Legal documentation for non-Libyans: There is no information available as to whether or not Libyan public institutions (ex: hospitals, local municipalities, services of the ministry of social affairs etc.) can either issue or recognize some civil documentation, in particular birth, marriage and death certificates, for foreign nationals. DRC will therefore have to map out which public institutions or services can issue which civil document and also what are the rules, requirements and processes that apply. While it may be assumed that due to the highly restrictive domestic legal framework that qualify all irregular migrants as ‘illegal’ no public institutions would be in a position to issue any civil documents to individuals within DRC’s caseload, there may be avenues that can be explored at the local level, in particular for the registration or validation of civil documents that have been issued by consular services. There have been more recent initiatives, resulting from advocacy at the UN level, which may prove promising in the issuance of an “asylum seeker document” for a select few of nationalities.
As a complementary effort to this investigation, DRC will need to explore the type of civil documentation that each embassy can or cannot issue, collecting information regarding the administrative process (issuing in Libya, Tunisia or in the country of origin; timeline etc.) the administrative costs; the requirements (copies of documentation proving citizenship and identity etc.) and the rules and regulations (issuing of birth or marriage certificate in case of marriage between persons from different nationalities, in case of civil union without marriage etc.). To this end a mapping exercise will be done stating all consular documentation services provided by embassies and nationalities of focus and recommendations on best way forward including institutional procedures to ensure that any potential service provision would not affect the community negatively.

3.5 Linkages with DRC’s Protection Analysis and Strategy
Although the above legal analysis and assessment will be distinct exercises, there should be linkages made to DRC’s existing protection programming complementarity with the protection strategy. Both will be reflected in the country level Protection Strategy and feed into the development of the country level Strategic Programme Document (SPD).

1. DELIVERABLES
2. Work plan. The Consultant will provide a formal work plan including a timeline of activities, required support from DRC. The work plan will be reviewed by the DRC Technical Lead and approved when parties are mutually satisfied.
3. Legal analysis. Written summary of desk review summarizing the applicable Libyan legal framework (can be finalized with the final report).
4. Legal needs assessment methodology and associated tools. Based on gaps identified during desk review, take the technical lead on designing methodology of the legal needs assessment, as well as ensuring quality and oversight of data collection and analysis. Data collection will be supported by DRC programme teams in the field. Data collection tools must ensure disaggregated (age and gender) data collection where relevant.
5. Written report. The final report is to contain the legal analysis as well as the findings of the legal needs assessment (operational and programmatic). It should also include recommendations to the DRC Protection Coordinator on legal aid activity design/resource requirements. In all these written sections, particular attention will be paid to age, gender and diversity considerations, and will likely require specific dedication to the unique needs of Libyans and non-Libyans.
   a. Note: as a minor sub-point, the assessment should provide an answer as whether there is any specific authorization or registration required for NGOs to provide legal assistance in Libya.
6. DRC’S RESPONSABILITIES

DRC will provide the consultant with access to all relevant project documentation, strategy documents and programme resources. DRC will also ensure consultation time with staff relevant to the consultant’s scope of work. DRC will also assist the consultant in arranging consultations with relevant stakeholders, including UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs, focal points and members of the different communities and target groups etc.
It is expected that the Consultant will be able to conduct most desk and preparatory work from Tunis while supervision of field work in Tripoli, Libya is preferred. DRC will facilitate Libyan visa application, the consultant’s travel from Tunis to Tripoli, and provide accommodation in Tripoli for necessary field research as per an approved schedule.

1. REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS
   The consultant will report to the Head of Programme (in the absence of a Protection Coordinator).
2. DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT
   The assignment is expected to take 3 months of full-time work, starting in September 2019. While The exact dates and number of working hours will be flexible and adapted to operational requirements, and finalized in the application process, a suggested breakdown of the work schedule is as follows:

• Onboarding and work plan 5 days
• Desk review and initial written legal analysis, 14 days
• Legal assessment methodology and tools (incl. roll-out) 13 days
• Data collection 12 days
• Data analysis, and report drafting 10 days
• Report revision and finalization (post DRC review) 3 days
• Co-development of programme set-up action plan 2 days
• Coordinating activity set-up as appropriate 7 days
In advance of each phase of work, the Consultant will be expected to confirm with the DRC Technical Lead that the number of days outlined above remains appropriate; these maximum figures can be reduced or increased as required, at the discretion of the DRC Technical Lead. Accordingly, deadlines for all deliverables (1. work plan, 2. assessment methodology, 3. Report, and 4. Action Plan) will be finalized based on consultation with DRC.

1. EXPECTED PROFILE OF CONSULTANT

• The Consultant is expected to be based in Tripoli; experience in the MENA region (Libyan context) is preferred. Some time may be required in Tunis during the initial desk review for visa purposes.
• At least 4 years senior experience in the fields of protection and/or legal assistance activities in complex conflict settings; experience designing and establishing legal assistance programming is highly preferred.
• Experience in producing protection/ legal analysis or human rights reporting.
• Technical capacity developing assessment methodology and conducting data analysis.
• Self-motivated, able to take initiative, resilient and able to work independently.
• Ability to produce timely and high quality written reports.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required; Arabic is an asset.

1. TERMS & CONDITIONS Payment will be made in full at the end of the consultancy and upon delivery of the final report. Fees are payable upon receipt of an invoice from the consultant.
   Throughout the duration of the contract the consultant will be required to fully comply with DRC’s Code of Conduct.