Legal Consultant on Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) Legislation

Background

Fiji, a Party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, intends to ratify the Kigali amendment to phase down the HFCs (Hydrofluorocarbons). The 80th Meeting of to the Executive Committee of the Montreal Protocol held in November 2017 approved Fiji’s Enabling Activity plan to support the ratification of the Kigali amendment.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the designated implementing agency for implementing the enabling activities for Fiji and provides the required technical and programme support for preparation and implementation of enabling activity as approved.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The Legal Consultant on Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) legislation will develop draft amendment of the “Refrigerant Act and Regulations” in accordance with national policy and provisions of related regulations for Fiji. The “Act and Regulations” is to be presented to the Government and to the Parliament for enactment.

The Consultant will work under the supervision of the Senior Environment Officer, Ozone Depleting Substances Unit, Department of Environment, Ministry of Waterways and Environment, Government of Fiji and Programme Officer, UNDP, and is expected to deliver the following:

• Review the current national policies, planning, programmes, procedures and provisions of related regulations in the Ozone Depleting Substances Unit (ODS Unit);
• Participate in consultation workshops to get feedback on the proposed policy measures and legislation to ensure that these are accepted by the stakeholders;
• Organize meetings with relevant State Agencies to visualize the programme implementation and cross cutting issues;
• Incorporate into the draft the national commitments made in the development plans and international conventions;
• Elaborate all the documents necessary to discuss the draft with ministries, departments and other organizations involved in the coordination process, as well as to be presented at the Government and Parliament
• Support the Ministry of Waterways and Environment (MoWE) throughout the entire period of coordinating the draft in terms of considering all objections received and to finalize and formulate the answers to the objections.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Assist the Ozone Depleting Substances Unit in following enabling activities (but not limited to):

• Study relevant documents (HPMP strategy and Fiji’s ODS laws)
• Identify barriers to the effective implementation of existing legislation (overlaps, conflicts, gaps, enforcement problems and provide practical solutions and recommendations to address these barriers)
• Identify changes needed to improve controls on controlled substances under the ODS Act and Regulations
• Develop the standard prescribed forms related to different classes of refrigerants in terms of handling, storage, importation, (re)exportation, wholesaling/retailing and etcetera
• Consult the opinion of the Fiji’s MoWE (ODS Unit) and UNEP/ UNDP, if necessary
• Draft the final amended Act and Regulations including:

            -  the Schedules to the Act;

            -  provide the fees and charges to be paid to the Government in accordance to Fiji’s Financial laws;

            -  provide for the ODS Trust Fund; and

            -  provide generally for the effective implementation of the “Refrigerant Act and Regulations”.

• Attend to queries raised by the Solicitor-General’s Office and the Cabinet Office
• Awareness workshop for all stakeholders

Output	Deliverables	Deadline	% Payment
1	Upon NOU & UNDP’s approval of the work plan	December 2019	10%
2	Draft preparation considering all legal aspects with the (supporting) documents to coordinate approved by the NOU and UNDP	December 2019	20%
3	Consultations with stakeholders and inclusion of compliance to all objections and recommendations received in the process of finalizing the draft approved by the NOU and UNDP	January 2020	30%
4	Cabinet paper submission to Solicitor-General’s Office and the Cabinet Office approved by the NOU and UNDP	February 2019	20%
5	Divisional Awareness Workshops reports approved by the NOU and UNDP	April 2019	20%

Institutional Arrangement

• The consultant will be in close coordination and be supervised by Senior Environment Officer, Ozone Depleting Substances Unit, Department of Environment, Government of Fiji, and the UNDP Programme Specialist.

• The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment.

  The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.

Duration of the Work 

9 December 2019 – 30 June 2020 (please specify an estimated no. of working day in the “Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Daily Financial Proposal” as per link:http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=61043).

Duty Station

Home based with three mission to Suva, Fiji. (5 days for each mission). Tentative mission dates are December 2019, February 2020 and May 2020.

Competencies

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Technical:

• Ability to analyses policy documents and make constructive policy suggestions;
• Strong interpersonal, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team;
• Capacity building skills and flexibility depending on the public;
• Demonstration of commitment to the Project’s mission, vision and values;
• Good writing and reporting skills;
• Good presentation skills;
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations, and to meet tight deadlines.

Professionalism:

• Works toward creative solutions by analyzing problems carefully and logically – inspires and fosters innovation by highlighting innovative;
• Shares knowledge and is willing to provide support to others who request advice or help;
• Facilitates meetings effectively and efficiently;
• Resolves conflicts as they arise.

 Client Orientation:

• Sets priorities, produces quality outputs, meets deadlines and manages time efficiently;
• Maintains strong relationships with partners and clients.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• University Degree in Law.
• A postgraduate degree in law would be a strong advantage

Experience:

• At least 7 of professional experience in practicing law or other relevant fields. Experience in legal work related to Montreal Protocol will be an added advantage
• Sound experience in drafting legislative Acts, legal analysis and assessment
• Knowledge of Fiji’s Legislative System
• Knowledge of Multilateral Environment agreement preferred

Language:

• Proficiency in English

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The contract will be based on Daily Fee

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

• Deliverable 1: Completion upon NOU& UNDP’s approval of the work plan: 10% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 2: Draft preparation considering all legal aspects with the (supporting) documents to coordinate approved by the NOU and UNDP: 20% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 3: Consultations with stakeholders and inclusion of compliance to all objections and recommendations received in the process of finalizing the draft approved by the NOU and UNDP: 30% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 4: Cabinet paper submission to Solicitor-General’s Office and the Cabinet Office approved by the NOU and UNDP: 20% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 5: Divisional Awareness Workshops reports approved by the NOU and UNDP: 20% of total contract amount

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent. 

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology;

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%) *and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced qualified proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

• Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated;

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

• Criteria 1: Relevance in education background - Max 10 points;
• Criteria 2: Professional experience working in practicing law or other relevant fields - Max 20 points
• Criteria 3: Experience in drafting legislative Acts, legal analysis and assessment - Max 20 points;
• Criteria 4: Knowledge of Fiji Legislative System - Max 5 points;
• Criteria 5: Knowledge of Multilateral Environment agreement preferred – Max 10 points;
• Criteria 6: Proficiency in English - Max 5 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of technical evaluation) would be considered for Financial Evaluation.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

·         Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.

·         Personal CV indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

·         Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II. Note: National consultant must quote price in U.S. Dollar that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The shortlisted candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified.

To download related documents and templates, please click the link below:

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=61043