International Consultant/Expert on conducting an overall expertise/assessment of the draft Law on Police of Republic of Tajikistan (SSAs)

Background:

In 2012, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, in his Address to the Parliament and the people of Tajikistan, pointed out the need to reform the internal affairs bodies, in particular the preparation and implementation of the Police Reform Program. It was noted that it is necessary to ensure a smooth transition from the existing militia to modern community-oriented police, which will serve the public and ensure security and law and order throughout the country. One of the important stages and elements of the upcoming reform should be the improvement of the legislative framework for the activities of internal affairs bodies. In the first stage, it was planned to prepare the Law on the Police, the adoption of which was supposed to entail changes in the name of the militia, the definition of the main functions and tasks of the transformed police, changes in personnel policy, respect for human rights and other aspects of the work of the transformed police. The current Law on the Militia, which was adopted back in 2004, did not reflect all those modern requirements and trends that should have been inherent in the new police structure that met all democratic standards of policing.

During 2022-2023, based on the request of the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs prepared a new draft of the Law on Police, using the capabilities of the interdepartmental working group created by the order of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.

In 2024, the MIA and Office agreed to commission an assessment of draft Law on Police towards its structure, clauses, objectives and goals. Based on the assessment results, the MIA is expecting to obtain list of suggestions/recommendations for the improvement of the content of draft Law to be considered for the inclusion to the final draft before it will be sent to Executive Office of the President and Parliament for clearance and approval.

Objective of Assignment: 

The POiD is planning to hire an international consultant/expert in the field of police reform to analyze and conduct an assessment of draft Law on Police of Republic of Tajikistan. The assessment aims at evaluating the responsiveness of the draft Law towards following principles of democratic policing, namely: 

• Policing as a Public Service
• Upholding the Rule of Law
• Co-operation within the Criminal Justice Sector
• Police Ethics and Human Rights
• Corruption Issues
• Discrimination Issues
• Police Investigations
• Arrest and Detention
• Maintaining Public Order and Safeguarding Democratic Freedom
• Use of Force
• Other police power
• Police Accountability and Transparency
• Accountability and Control
• Oversight Institutions
• Police-Public Partnership
• Mechanisms for Requesting Police Service
• Police-Media Relations
• Public Dissemination of Reports
• Outreach to Minority Communities
• Police Organization and Management Issues
•  Chain of Command and Operational Autonomy
•  Supervision
• Composition of the Police
• Recruitment
• Retention
• Promotion and Career Development
• Rights of Police Personnel
• Equipment
• Police Education and Training System

Further, the assessment shall develop comprehensive assessment report including list of suggestions/recommendations based on a thorough identification of possible shortcomings of the current version of a draft Law. Later, these suggestions/recommendations should be presented for the attention of the Government of RT and supposed to serve for MIA as a basis for correction of the draft Law in preparing its final version which will be sent to Parliament for review and adoption. 

Duration of Assignment:

From 10 July 2024 to 18 September 2024, 18 days 

Tasks and Responsibilities:
Under the overall supervision of the Police Affairs Advisor, the successful candidate will be tasked with the following duties:

An international expert/consultant, assisted by the OSCE POiD Police Assistance team, will conduct the overall assessment of the current RT MIA draft Law on Police. The process has been planned for 18 days (July – September 2024) and will be divided into three Phases: 

Phase One:  
First three days of assignment (from 10 July to 12 July 2024) the Consultant will be working remotely home based in order to review and analyse current version of draft Law on Police and if needed all relevant   documents related to Police Reform process.

Further, another four (4) days of assignment (from 16 July to 19 July 2024) the Consultant will be working based in Dushanbe (POiD premises) in order to conduct meetings with MIA and other governmental structures and gathering the information which will be needed for drafting a first version of a comprehensive assessment report. 

Phase Two: 
The following five (5) days of assignment (from 22 July to 26 July 2024) the Consultant will be working remotely home based in order to complete the final draft version of comprehensive assessment report for further submitting it to the MIA / OSCE review and comments. 
The MIA and the OSCE will take the period of three (3) weeks from (29 July to 16 August 2024) for reviewing and commenting on the final draft version of comprehensive assessment report. The Consultant will receive commented versions of report latest by 19 August 2024.  

Phase Three:
During next three (3) days of the assignment (from 19 August to 21 August 2024) the Consultant will provide replies and responses for raised comments by the MIA/OSCE. The final version of comprehensive assessment report should be submitted to the OSCE not later than 21 August 2024 for further processing it within the Government of Tajikistan via Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition to this, the Consultant will be tasked to spend last three (3) days of the assignment (from 16 to 18 September 2024) to prepare an informative presentation on the final report in order to present it at a Roundtable (or Police Reform Steering Group meeting) which will be planned and scheduled to take place in Dushanbe on 17 September 2024.

Deliverables:

–    List of reviewed all relevant documents (with notes) related with Police Reform process in Tajikistan, in particular related to the development of Law on Police;
–    Questionnaire for interview sessions with MIA and other governmental structures;
–    Received answers from MIA and other governmental structures for questionnaires, structured in the form of table or short report.
–    Draft Law on Police containing comments, suggestions and recommendations on improvement for shortcomings of its clauses and chapters;
–    First draft version of comprehensive assessment report for MIA/OSCE review and comments;
–    Replies and responses of consultant for raised comments provided by the MIA/OSCE in the first draft of comprehensive report;
–    The final version of comprehensive assessment report;
–    Informative presentation on the final comprehensive assessment report.

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, please see: http://www.osce.org/programme-office-in-dushanbe 

Necessary Qualifications:

•    University degree in law, security and/or military sciences, security-related studies or equivalent;
•    Minimum 10 years working experience in police and law-enforcement agencies, including public administration area within state entities;
•    Experience in drafting legal documents in the area of security and reforms related issues, democratic policing and community policing in post-war and transitions societies;
•    Experience in conducting needs assessments and researches in the area of security and reforms related issues, democratic policing and community policing;
•    Previous work-experience within international organizations in the area of policing is an asset;
•    Thorough knowledge of internationally recognized standards and practices in terms of external evaluation enriched by experience in a successfully conducted police reform endeavour, community oriented and democratic policing, Strategy planning and programs evaluation, Project management and fundraising;
•    Familiarity with international organization field operations in Central Asia and/or Tajikistan, in the area of police-related activities is desirable;
•    Understanding of the specificity and sensitiveness of police reform activities in the fields of democratization, human rights, security, and rule of law in countries in transition
•    Solid understanding and knowledge of specificities and sensitiveness of police reform processes in countries of transition, with particular focus on gender mainstreaming and human rights;  
•    Demonstrated analytical skills as well as maturity of judgment;
•    Demonstrated ability and willingness to work as a member of a team and with colleagues throughout the OSCE with different cultural, religious and professional backgrounds as well as different gender, diverse political views and approaches to problems, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity;
•    Excellent communication skills, both in oral and writing, experience in networking and managing a high number of contacts;
•    Flexibility and ability to work under pressure and with limited time frames;
•    Professional fluency in the English language, working knowledge of Russian is desirable;
•    Ability to operate windows applications, including word processing and e-mail.

Remuneration Package:

Remuneration will be based on the selected consultant’s/expert’s qualifications, experience, the tasks and deliverables for this position and in accordance with the OSCE established rates.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE’s online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment or to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the Organization. 

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.