Call for Consultancy Services

PROJECT: “Strengthening Judicial Ethics in Turkey (SJET)”

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR A LOCAL SHORT TERM CONSULTANT (LSTC) ON COMMUNICATION AND VISIBILITY

 Position title:

Local short-term consultant on Communication and Visibility

Place of the activities

Turkey

Project

Strengthening Judicial Ethics in Turkey

Organisation

Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara

Duration

Up to 20 working days during the project duration

Planned start date

05 April 2017

Deadline for Application

26 March 2017

I.     Background information about the project

The European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (Council or CoE) Joint Project on “Strengthening Judicial Ethics in Turkey” (hereafter referred to as “the Project”) aims to contribute to the enhancement of the judiciary in accordance with European standards and to thereby increase public trust in the judiciary of Turkey.

The main partners of the Joint Programme are the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HCJP) and the Justice Academy of Turkey (JAT).

General objective of the project is to contribute to the enhancement of the judiciary in accordance with European standards and to thereby increase public trust in the judiciary of Turkey.

Specific objective of the project is to promote judicial ethics in Turkey and to ensure effective implementation of the Code(s) of Ethics for judges and prosecutors and to raise awareness amongst judges, public prosecutors, lawyers and members of the public on the matter with a view to allowing an enhanced public scrutiny.

II. Purpose of the consultancy

The Local Short Term Consultant (LSTC) is expected to:

·         Implement all communication and visibility activities stated at the Communication and Visibility/Media Strategy of the SJET project in high quality and in line with the Communication and visibility time plan, in close co-ordination with CoE project team and the other Council of Europe SJET project consultants and the relevant service providers;

·         Work in close cooperation with the LSTC on Visibility Material Design for quality and timely design/production of the communication and visibility materials in coordination with the CoE project team and the beneficiaries;

·         Ensure that all necessary measures are taken to ensure the visibility of the European Union and the Republic of Turkey in line with the Communication and Visibility Manual of EU and CoE

·         Advice CoE project team on necessary steps which has to be taken for timely, effective and efficient implementation of the information campaign;

III. Key duties and responsibilities

There are four main components of the SJET project:

1.  Detailed analysis of the situation in the field of judicial ethics

2.  Increasing awareness of the Turkish judges and prosecutors on judicial ethics

3.  Enhancing the Capacity of the HCJP to implement the Code

4.  Increasing the public awareness on judicial ethics and the availability of complaint mechanisms

This call for expression of interest addresses the activities under the Component 4 “Increasing the public awareness on judicial ethics and the availability of complaint mechanisms”.

There are mainly two sub-components under the Component-4:

·      Raising the awareness of the general public

·      Information campaign for the general public about the new ethics guidelines and avenues for submitting complaints

In this context, a workshop was organised in February 2017 for drafting communication and visibility/media strategy which is expected to contribute to  raising awareness in general public including defining main target groups (court users, media, academia, etc.), developing key messages and tools with participation of all respective stakeholders and based on the feedbacks from the workshop a CoE consultant prepared and submitted the Communication and Visibility/Media Strategy of the SJET project.

Now, the Local short-term consultant on Communication and Visibility is expected to actively contribute and lead to the implementation of the communication and visibility plan in compliance with the DoA and the Communication and Visibility/Media Strategy through the tasks explained below: 

As per the main reference document (DoA), it is stated that, in order to reach the largest number of members of the general public with information about the new Judicial Ethics guidelines and the role of the HCJP in enforcing them, including the possibility to submit ethics-related complaints to the latter, a public awareness campaign will be launch in media, including in particular public media, accompanied by printed information materials made available at judicial and other public institutions.

With the application of the judicial ethics guidelines by judges and prosecutors, one may expect more ethically sound decisions and actions within the judiciary. This progress should be accompanied by action to inform the general public, through media, of the existence of the guidelines. The awareness that these guidelines are applied by the judiciary can be expected to already in itself increase the trust in the judiciary among the general public, but the possibility for members of the public to submit complaints related to ethics is also important in order to increase the general public’s confidence in the judiciary. Therefore, a media event will be an important step in the Project’s efforts to inform the public about the content of the news guidelines and their use. Thus, a press conference will be organised with the participation of journalists from major media outlets in order to increase the publicity of the content of the Guidelines.

This press conference will raise awareness by giving concrete information and presenting the outputs of the Project to the journalists whom will also be expected to widely disseminate this information to the public about the new guidelines. Both journalists and columnist are expected to write about the guidelines in judicial ethics in their articles and news in national newspapers. Through media coverage it is expected to reach wider public. Indicators of the raising awareness will also include evaluation of the press event as part of the awareness and communications strategy of the project.

In addition to the above media event, an information campaign will be undertaken, targeting the general public in order to inform them about the content of the Ethic Guidelines and the mechanisms provided therein. The main thrust of this information campaign will be conducted though means of electronic media, notably in State Television and in selected private broadcasters.

In addition, brochures, poster and other printed awareness-raising materials will be produced and displayed in courthouses and public buildings in line with the Communication and Visibility Plan of the project. In addition, the possibilities for using the UYAP system for dissemination of short pieces of campaign information, for example by means of SMS messages to UYAP subscribers, will be investigated and used if deemed feasible.

In summary, the role of the LSTC will mainly include the following tasks:

#

Tasks

1

Coordinate timely and quality implementation of the Information Campaign

(Logo competition, digital photograph competition, visits to the columnists, interviews with community leaders, visits to law schools, etc.)

2

Contribute and lead to the production process of TV/Radio spots and introductory film (with support of a selected video production company) (follow up deadlines, coordination with the production company, identifying the main message in support to the scenario , monitoring the film/audio production phase etc)

3

Advice and coordinate the design and development of the project website in close coordination with graphic designer and the other CoE consultants

4

Advice and coordinate the production of Display Panels, Roll-ups, Banners, Billboard, Stickers, Posters, Brochures, Leaflets, Cartoons in close coordination with graphic designer and the other CoE consultants (displayed in courthouses, public buildings in coordination with the beneficiary)

5

Contribute and lead to the production of Promotional Items/ Folders, Notebooks, Pens etc  in close coordination with graphic designer and the other CoE consultants

6

Plan and organize the Media Event/Press Conference in close cooperation with the service provider company on event organisation, and with the respective CoE consultants and HCJP

7

Submit a final report including the evaluation of the Information Campaign and the Strategy in close coordination with the consultant on Evaluation Strategy

8

Plan and organize the Closing Event in close cooperation with the service provider company on event organisation, and with the respective CoE consultants and HCJP

The number of days needed for completing each deliverable could vary but the total number of working days shall not exceed 20 days within the project duration.

IV. Qualifications required

Essential:

·      University degree in communication/media, journalism or related fields;

·      At least 3 years of professional experience in managing communications or PR work;

·      3 to 5 years of progressive experience in PR agency or company, including practical experience in developing and implementing communication and visibility plans and programmes;

·      Sound writing skills in Turkish and good communication skills in English, both written and oral

Desirable:

·      Previous experience in implementation of  Communication and Visibility strategies for the EU or other international donors funded projects;

·      Knowledge of Turkish judiciary and/or experience of working with judiciary institutions;

·      Experience of consultancy in international and/or EU projects;

·      Good communication and team work skills;

·      Awareness of gender, ethnic, cultural and political issues;

·      Good organizational skills, capable of taking initiative and working independently;

·      Readiness and ability to work with the beneficiary/beneficiaries.

V. Fees and status

The selected candidate will be offered a consultancy contract. The level of fees will depend on qualifications and work experience.

The proposed contract cannot be construed as conferring on the selected candidate the capacity of Council of Europe employee. Hence no allowance will be given in respect of expatriation, dependents etc.

The selected candidate will have to make his/her own arrangements for health and social insurance during the entire period of work under the contract and declare all fees received from the Council of Europe for tax purposes as required in his/her country of fiscal residence.

Any task-related travel will be reimbursed and subsistence expenses paid according to the Council of Europe’s rules.

VI. Applications and selection procedure

Candidates must submit the following documents in English:

a) Motivation letter mentioning also how the candidate’s experience match the qualifications required and, if applicable, any previous experience in drafting training strategy for internationally funded projects;

b) Curriculum Vitae, in English, preferably in the EUROPASS format;

c) Contact details of two reference persons (preferably previous employers);

d) Price Proposal (Annex-A)

Applications should be sent by email by no later than 26 March 2017 (midnight, Ankara time) to the following email addresses: [email protected]; and: [email protected] mentioning “LSTC on Communication and Visibility” in the email’s subject.

The selection procedure will be done on the basis of the documents submitted. Please note that, technical qualifications weighs %70 and price evaluation weighs %30 out of %100 total score. An additional interview may be envisaged at a later stage.

Annex-A

Price Proposal Guideline and Template

The prospective LSTC should take the following explanations into account during submission of his/her price proposal.

•    You are asked to propose your professional daily fee rate, which will be multiplied by the number of working/days indicated in the Terms of Reference to establish the total contract amount.

•    The fee rate should be indicated in Euro (€)

•    CoE will not make any further clarification on costs related to tax, social security premium, pension, visa etc. It is the applicants’ responsibility to make necessary inquiries on these matters.

•    The payments to be made will be calculated on the actual number of working/days to be invested and reported (through timesheets) by the consultant for fulfilment/delivery of corresponding activities/deliverables. The number of working/days to be reported by the consultant cannot be more than the number of working/days, indicated in the Terms of Reference allocated for the fulfilment/delivery of corresponding activities/deliverables.

•    Price proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. tax, social security premium, pension, visa, consultancy fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).

•    Once proposed and accepted, the fee rate cannot be changed.

•    Please (a) copy the below text into a word processor, (b) indicate your daily fee rate as explained above, (c) do not change any part of the standard text (changing the standard text may lead to disqualification), (d) sign the document, (e) scan the signed version of the price proposal, and (f) send it as an attachment back to CoE by replying to this email.

 

 

 

Price Proposal Submission Form

To:      Council of Europe

Ref:     Consultant on Visibility and Communication

Dear Sir / Madam,

I, the undersigned, offer to provide professional consulting services to CoE within the scope of the referred Assignment.

Having examined, understood and agreed to the Terms of Reference, the receipt of which are hereby duly acknowledged, I, the undersigned, offer to deliver professional services, in conformity with Terms of Reference.

Daily consultancy fee:………………………………€ [A]

Total number of working days:         20                  €  [B]

Total price proposal: ……………………………….€ [AxB]

I confirm that the price (daily fee rate) that I quote is gross, and it includes all kinds of expenses that will incur in relation to the Individual Contract, including but not limited to relocation expenses (such as visa, work and residence permits and expenses, etc.), and all legal expenses (social security, income tax etc.), which will be required by local law.

I undertake, if our price proposal is accepted, to commence and complete delivery of all services specified, within the time frames stipulated in the Individual Contract.

I accept that if I am selected to provide consultancy services, the payments shall be made in accordance with the payment conditions stipulated in the attached Terms of Reference.

I understand that you are not bound to accept any Proposal you may receive.

[Signature]

Date:

Name:

Address:

Telephone/Fax:

Email: