CALL FOR TENDERS

for the provision of LOCAL SHORT-TERM CONSULTANCY SERVICES

ON Improving the Effectiveness of Family Courts: Better Protection of the Rights of Family Members ın turkey

2021/AO/33

Object of the procurement procedure ►	Local short-term consultancy services to improve the effectiveness of family courts for the better protection of the rights of family members
Project ►	Improving the Effectiveness of Family Courts: Better Protection of the Rights of Family Members
Organisation and buying entity ►	Council of Europe Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards
Type of contract ►	Framework Contract
Duration ►	Until 19 December 2023 With the possibility for annual renewal up until a duration of one year
Expected starting date ►	26 July 2021
Tender Notice Issuance date ►	10 June 2021
Deadline for tendering ►	5 July 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

This Tender File contains:

·       The TERMS OF REFERENCE. 3

The TERMS OF REFERENCE describe what will be expected from the selected Providers.

·       The TENDER RULES. 9

The TENDER RULES explain the procedure through which the tenders will be submitted by the tenderers and assessed by the Council of Europe.

·       The ACT OF ENGAGEMENT(See Document attached) is the document formalising the consent of the Parties to be bound by the LEGAL CONDITIONS, which are the legal provisions which will be applicable between the Council of Europe and the selected Providers. It also contains the TABLE OF FEES, which indicates the applicable fees, throughout the duration of the contract.

PART I –TERMS OF REFERENCE

CALL FOR TENDERS

for the provision of LOCAL SHORT-TERM CONSULTANCY SERVICES

ON IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FAMILY COURTS: BETTER PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF FAMILY MEMBERS ın turkey

2021/AO/33

A.  Background

The specific objective of the project is to improve the effectiveness of family courts in protecting the rights of women, children and other family members. This includes improving effectiveness of family courts with a view to protect the rights of women, children and other family members, the enhancement of the effectiveness and functioning of the family courts and offices of public prosecutors, the building of the capacities of judges, public prosecutors and experts regarding key human rights and family law issues, the application of the principles of child-friendly justice, the improvement of collaboration mechanisms among stakeholders, as well as an increase of the awareness of the public regarding family justice and family court proceedings.

The Project has the following expected results:

1.     Effectiveness and functioning of the family courts and office of public prosecutors is enhanced.

2.     Capacities of judges, public prosecutors and experts are enhanced regarding key human rights and family law issues.

3.     Collaboration mechanisms among stakeholders are improved.

4.     Awareness of public regarding family court proceedings is increased.

The project, which has a total budget of 2.223.000 Euros, will last 33 months.

Target groups of the project are Ministry of Justice staff, judges and public prosecutors of the family courts, court staff, lawyers, family court experts, representatives of academia as well as representatives of disadvantaged groups (women, youth, vulnerable groups, etc.).

End beneficiary of the project is the Justice Academy of Turkey.

The Council of Europe is looking for a maximum of 80 Provider(s) (provided enough tenders meet the criteria indicated below) in order to support the implementation of the project with a particular expertise on research, advice, co-ordination and facilitation in relation to the functioning of family courts, capacities of professionals, establishment of collaboration mechanisms and awareness-raising.

This Contract is currently estimated to cover up to 33 activities, to be held by 19 December 2023.This estimate is for information only and shall not constitute any sort of contractual commitment on the part of the Council of Europe. The Contract may potentially represent a higher or lower number of activities, depending on the evolving needs of the Organisation.

For information purposes only, the total budget of the project amounts to 2.223.000 Euros and the total amount of the object of present tender should in principle not exceed 197,400 Euros for the whole duration of the Framework Contract. This information does not constitute any sort of contractual commitment or obligation on the part of the Council of Europe.

B.  LOTS

The project “Improving the Effectiveness of Family Courts: Better Protection of the Rights of Family Members” in Turkey aims at protecting the rights of women, children and other family members.

The present tendering procedure aims to select Provider(s) to support the implementation of the project and is divided into the following lots:

Lots	Maximum number of Providers to be selected
Lot 1: Analysis and Advice	25
Lot 2: Capacity Building	25
Lot 3: Co-ordination and Facilitation	30

Lot 1 concerns consultancy in the form of research, review and analysis of the functioning of family courts with a view to a better protection of the rights of family members.

Lot 2 concerns consultancy in the form of design and delivery of training programmes for judges, prosecutors, court staff and experts.

Lot 3 concerns consultancy with a view of increasing collaboration mechanisms among the relevant stakeholders and raising awareness of court users and public at large on the functioning of family courts.

The Council will select the abovementioned number of Provider(s) per lot, provided enough tenders meet the criteria indicated below. Tenderers are invited to indicate which lot(s) they are tendering for (see Section A of the Act of Engagement).

C.  SCOPE OF THE FRAMEWORK CONTRACT

Throughout the duration of the Framework Contract, pre-selected Providers may be asked to provide the following deliverables:

Under LOT 1 - Analysis and Advice:Research, review and analysis of the functioning of family courts with a view to a better protection of the rights of family members. This involves:

-          Assessing the needs in relation to the functioning of family courts, with a particular focus on the effectiveness of divorce procedures and their application, management of divorces cases, establishment of alimony and compensation claims, determination of the best interest of children, custody arrangements, prevention of domestic violence and the use of ADR mechanisms;

-          Providing technical expertise for the pilot implementation of practical tools and guidelines produced on the case management and assessment of family law disputes;

-          Designing and applying appropriate survey methodologies for the collection and evaluation of quantitative and qualitative data in identifying the needs for a better protection of the rights of family members by the family justice system and case-flow and prosecution management in domestic violence cases;

-          Reviewing and analysing legislative frameworks and policy documents, based on the relevant European standards and best practices concerning the effective functioning of family courts, while protecting the rights of family members;

-          Developing practical recommendations, tools, guidelines and handbooks on the specific aspects of family justice mechanism, family court procedures, case management and case-flow and prosecution management of domestic violence cases, which may need improvement;

-          Drawing up policy documents, road maps and action plans with a view to improving the functioning of family courts;

-          Providing expertise for the organisation, implementation and reporting of consultation meetings on the development of the above-mentioned documents and tools.

Under LOT 2 – Capacity Building:Design and delivery of training programmes for judges, prosecutors, court staff and experts. This involves:

-          Carrying out training needs assessments in order to enhance the capacities of professionals dealing with family justice, with a particular focus on the protection of the rights of women, children and other family members in family law disputes and cases concerning domestic violence, the effective management of such cases, and the use of ADRs in the field;

-          Designing pre- and in-service training programmes and distance learning modules, based on the findings of the above-mentioned needs assessment and consultations with stakeholders;

-          Developing appropriate training methodologies, in line with European best practices and standards concerning the training of legal professionals;

-          Preparing training materials, including handbooks for trainers and trainees, online modules adapted from face-to-face modules;

-          Delivering pilot training seminars, cascade training courses and training of trainers on various subject matters concerning family justice;

-          Assessing efficiency and effectiveness of the implemented training activities and proposing necessary improvements to the relevant programmes, modules, online courses and training materials;

-          Providing expertise for the development of training policies and strategies in order to enhance the capacities of professionals dealing with family justice;

-          Contributing to the organisation, implementation and reporting of consultation meetings on the design of the training programmes and modules;

-          Designing and implementing mentoring and/or coaching programmes.

Under LOT 3 –Co-ordination and Facilitation: Increasing collaboration mechanisms among the relevant stakeholders and raising awareness of court users and public at large on the functioning of family courts. This involves:

-          Identifying the needs for the establishment of a collaboration mechanism and the management of a targeted awareness-raising campaign on the rights of family members in relation to family justice and designing a communication strategy for this purpose;

-          Providing practical recommendations on the organisation and reporting of several collaboration meetings and public information activities, including an international conference, stakeholder meetings, open court day events and establishment of law clinics and preparing their agendas and meeting notes;

-          Drawing up an action plan and the mandate and working procedures and annual work plan for the collaboration mechanism based on the feedback received in the stakeholder meetings;

-          Planning, conducting, facilitating, assessing and reporting upon meetings of collaboration mechanisms and/or working groups;

-          Preparing a number of online and off-line awareness tools, such as booklets, brochures, handbooks, posters, short videos and a project website;

-          Delivering speeches at public events, for example, roundtables, collaboration meetings, seminars and conferences, to be held under the project.

The above list is not considered exhaustive. The Council reserves the right to request deliverables not explicitly mentioned in the above list of expected services, but related to the field of expertise object of the present Framework Contract.

In terms of quality requirements, the pre-selected Service Providers must ensure, inter alia, that:

·         The services are provided to the highest professional/academic standard;

·         Any specific instructions given by the Council – whenever this is the case – are followed.

In addition to the orders requested on an as needed basis, the Provider shall keep regular communication with the Council to ensure continuing exchange of information relevant to the project implementation. This involves, among others, to inform the Council as soon as it becomes aware, during the execution of the Contract, of any initiatives and/or adopted laws and regulations, policies, strategies or action plans or any other development related to the object of the Contract (see more on general obligations of the Provider in Article 3.1.2 of the Legal Conditions in the Act of Engagement).

Unless otherwise agreed with the Council, written documents produced by the Provider shall be in English (see more on requirements for written documents in Articles 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 of the Legal Conditions in the Act of Engagement).

D.  FEES

Tenderers are invited to indicate their unit fees, by completing the table of fees, as attached in Section A of the Act of Engagement. These fees are final and not subject to review.

Tenders proposing fees above the exclusion level indicated in the Table of fees will be entirely and automatically excluded from the tender procedure.

The Council will indicate on each Order Form (see Section E below) the global fee corresponding to each deliverable, calculated on the basis of the unit fees, as agreed by this Contract.

E.   HOW WILL THIS FRAMEWORK CONTRACT WORK? (Ordering PROCEDURE)

Once this consultation and the subsequent selection are completed, you will be informed accordingly. Deliverables will then be carried out on the basis of Order Forms submitted by the Council to the selected Service Provider(s), by post or electronically, on an as needed basis (there is therefore no obligation to order on the part of the Council).

Each time an Order Form is sent, the selected Provider undertakes to take all the necessary measures to send it signed to the Council within 2 (two) working days after its reception.

Pooling

For each Order, the Council will choose from the pool of pre-selected tenderers the Provider who demonstrably offers best value for money for its requirement when assessed – for the Order concerned – against the criteria of:

-           quality (including as appropriate: capability, expertise, past performance, availability of resources and proposed methods of undertaking the work);

-           availability (including, without limitation, capacity to meet required deadlines and, where relevant, geographical location); and

-           price.

If a Provider is unable to take an Order or if no reply is given on his behalf within that deadline, the Council may call on another Service Provider using the same criteria, and so on until a suitable Provider is contracted.

Providers subject to VAT

The Provider, if subject to VAT, shall also send, together with each signed Form, a quote^[1] (Pro Forma invoice) in line with the indications specified on each Order Form, and including:

-    the Service Provider’s name and address;

-    its VAT number;

-    the full list of services;

-    the fee per type of deliverables (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement, tax exclusive);

-    the total amount per type of deliverables (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement, tax exclusive);

-    the total amount (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement), tax exclusive, the applicable VAT rate, the amount of VAT and the amount VAT inclusive.

Signature of orders

An Order Form is considered to be legally binding when the Order, signed by the Service Provider, is approved by the Council, by displaying a Council’s Purchase Order number on the Order, as well as by signing and stamping the Order concerned. Copy of each approved Order Form shall be sent to the Provider, to the extent possible on the day of its signature.

F.   ASSESSMENT

Exclusion criteria (by signing the Act of Engagement, you declare on your honour not being in any of the below situations) [2]

Tenderers shall be excluded from participating in the tender procedure if they:

·         have been sentenced by final judgment on one or more of the following charges: participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, child labour or trafficking in human beings;

·         are in a situation of bankruptcy, liquidation, termination of activity, insolvency or arrangement with creditors or any like situation arising from a procedure of the same kind, or are subject to a procedure of the same kind;

·         have received a judgment with res judicata force, finding an offence that affects their professional integrity or serious professional misconduct;

·         do not comply with their obligations as regards payment of social security contributions, taxes and dues, according to the statutory provisions of their country of incorporation, establishment or residence;

·         are an entity created to circumvent tax, social or other legal obligations (empty shell company), have ever created or are in the process of creation of such an entity;

·         have been involved in mismanagement of the Council of Europe funds or public funds;

·         are or are likely to be in a situation of conflict of interests;

·         are or if their owner(s) or executive officer(s), in the case of legal persons, are included in the lists of persons or entities subject to restrictive measures applied by the European Union (available at www.sanctionsmap.eu).

Eligibility criteria

Tenderers shall demonstrate that they fulfil the following criteria (to be assessed on the basis of all supporting documents listed in Section G):

Common criteria for all lots:

·         At least 2 years of experience in working in the national context in relation to the regulation and functioning of family courts;

·         Minimum 2 years of recent work experience in providing consultancy services for national institutions and / or individuals on family justice;

·         At least 2 years of experience in integrating gender equality and other relevant human rights and rule of law issues into the field of family justice either by research or practical experience in family courts;

·         Excellent writing and speaking skills in Turkish (mother tongue level);

·         A financial offer not exceeding the limit set out in the Act of Engagement.

Criteria for specific lots:

For Lot 1 (Analysis and Advice):

·         Master’s level university degree in law, political sciences, statistics, social sciences, or related fields, or equivalent research experience;

·         Minimum 5 years of work experience in at least one of the following fields:

o    conducting research on family courts, with a focus on the protection of the rights of family members;

o    practising law as an attorney at law in Turkey on family law cases,

o    prior work experience as a family court judge in Turkey,

o    preparing policy documents, legislative reviews, recommendations, strategic plans for the governments in order to enhance the structure and functioning of family courts;

o    designing practical tools, guidelines and handbooks in order to improve practices concerning family justice;

o    women’s access to justice and/or child friendly justice with specific reference to the work of family courts.

For Lot 2 (Capacity Building):

·         Master’s level university degree in adult education or other related fields, such as social studies, psychology and law;

·         Minimum 5 years of work experience in conducting training needs assessment and/or developing and implementing training programmes (including ToTs), modules and materials (online and offline) on family justice or minimum 5 years of work experience as a family court judge or attorney at law practising in family law issues in Turkey;

·         Good understanding of innovative and interactive adult education approaches and techniques.

For Lot 3 (Co-ordination and Facilitation):

·         Master’s level university degree in law, communication, social sciences, or related fields;

·         Minimum 3 years of work experience in one of the following fields:

o    developing and implementing a collaboration action plan and working procedures for an enhanced stakeholder engagement on family justice

o    designing and implementing a communication strategy and/or awareness-raising campaign for court users and public in general on the rights of family members and the functioning of family justice system;

o    delivering speeches at conferences, seminars and roundtables on the functioning of family courts, with a focus on the protection of the rights of family members;

o    preparing online and off-line awareness tools on family justice, including but not limited to booklets, brochures, information material, posters, short videos and web pages.

Award criteria

·         Quality of the offer (90%), including:

-        Relevance of the experience and expertise of the tenderer in the areas covered by this call (40%);

-        Recent experience in providing consultancy services for national institutions on family justice, preferably in international co-operation programmes implemented by the Council of Europe or another intra-governmental organisation (40%);

-        Excellent writing and speaking skills in Turkish (mother tongue level), and preferably good knowledge of English (10%).

·         Financial offer (10%).

The Council reserves the right to hold interviews with eligible tenderers.

Multiple tendering is not authorised.

G.  DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED

Ø  A completed and signed copy of the Act of Engagement.[3]

Ø  A detailed CV, preferably in Europass Format, demonstrating clearly that the tenderer fulfils the eligibility criteria;

Ø  Motivation letter, maximum one page long, clearly indicating, in particular, the following:

o    how the tenderer meets the requirements of the expected services in relation to the lot(s) applied for (see Section B above); and

o    experience in the provision of technical expertise in international co-operation projects in this domain.

Ø  Sample of a document in Turkish or English (e.g. needs assessment report, policy paper, guideline, training material, brochure, article and or speech) recently authored by the tenderer on family justice;

Ø  Contact details of 3 (three) references;

Ø  A list of all owners and executive officers, for legal persons only;

Ø  Registration documents, for legal persons only.

All documents shall be submitted in English (except the sample document, which can be submitted in Turkish), failure to do so will result in the exclusion of the tender. If any of the documents listed above are missing, the Council of Europe reserves the right to reject the tender.

The Council reserves the right to reject a tender if the scanned documents are of such a quality that the documents cannot be read once printed.

* * *

PART II – TENDER RULES

CALL FOR TENDERS

for the provision of LOCAL SHORT-TERM CONSULTANCY SERVICES

ON IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FAMILY COURTS: BETTER PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF FAMILY MEMBERS IN TURKEY

2021/AO/33

ARTICLE 1 – IDENTIFICATION OF THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

1.1   Name and address

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DG I).

1.2   Background

The activities of the Organisation are governed by its Statute. These activities concern the promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Organisation has its seat in Strasbourg and has set up external offices in about 20 member and non-member states (in Ankara, Baku, Belgrade, Brussels, Bucharest, Chisinau, Erevan, Geneva, Kyiv, Lisbon, Moscow, Paris, Podgorica, Pristina, Rabat, Sarajevo, Skopje, Tbilisi, Tirana, Tunis, Warsaw, Venice and Vienna).

Council of Europe procurements are governed by the Financial Regulations of the Organisation and by Rule 1395 of 20 June 2019 on the procurement procedures of the Council of Europe.

The Organisation enjoys privileges and immunities provided for in the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe, and its Protocols, and the Special Agreement relating to the Seat of the Council of Europe.^[4]

Further details on the project are provided in the Terms of Reference.

ARTICLE 2 – VALIDITY OF THE TENDERS

Tenders are valid for 120 calendar days as from the closing date for their submission.

ARTICLE 3 – DURATION OF THE CONTRACT

The duration of the framework contract is set out in Article 2 of the Legal Conditions in the Act of Engagement.

ARTICLE 4 – CHANGE, ALTERATION AND MODIFICATION OF THE TENDER FILE

Any change in the format, or any alteration or modification of the original tender will cause the immediate rejection of the tender concerned.

ARTICLE 5 – Content of the tender file

The tender file is composed of:

-    Technical specifications/Terms of reference;

-    Tender rules;

-    An Act of Engagement, including the Legal Conditions of the contract.

ARTICLE 6 – LEGAL FORM OF TENDERERS

The tenderer must be either a natural person, a legal person or consortia of legal and/or natural persons.

ARTICLE 7 – SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

General information can be found on the website of the Council of Europe: http://www.coe.int

Other questions regarding this specific tendering procedure shall be sent at the latest by one week before the deadline for submissions of tenders, in English, and shall be exclusively sent to the following address: [email protected].

This address is to be used for questions only; for modalities of tendering, please refer to the below Article.

ARTICLE 8 – MODALITIES OF THE TENDERING

Tenders must be sent to the Council of Europe electronically.

Electronic bidsshall be sent only to [email protected] with the subject line “2021AO33 – Local consultancy services_Family Courts”. Tenders submitted to another e-mail account will be excluded from the procedure.

ARTICLE 9 – Deadline for submission of tenders

The deadline for the submission of tenders is 05 July 2021.

ARTICLE 10 – ASSESSMENT OF TENDERS

Tenders shall be assessed in accordance with Rule 1395 of 20 June 2019 on the procurement procedures of the Council of Europe. Assessment shall be based upon the criteria as detailed in the Terms of Reference.

ARTICLE 11 – NEGOTIATIONS

The Council reserves the right to hold negotiations with the bidders in accordance with Article 20 of Rule 1395.

* * *

FINAL CHECK LIST

1)BEFORE SENDING YOUR TENDER, CHECK THAT IT INCLUDES:

Ø  One completed and signed copy of the Act of Engagement.[5]

Ø  A detailed CV, preferably in Europass Format, demonstrating clearly that the tenderer fulfils the eligibility criteria;

Ø  Motivation letter, maximum one page long, clearly indicating, in particular, the following:

o    how the tenderer meets the requirements of the expected services in relation to the lot(s) applied for (see Section B above); and

o    experience in the provision of technical expertise in international co-operation projects in this domain.

Ø  Sample of a document in Turkish or English (e.g. needs assessment report, policy paper, guideline, training material, brochure, article and or speech) recently authored by the tenderer on family justice;

Ø  Contact details of 3 (three) references;

Ø  A list of all owners and executive officers, for legal persons only;

Ø  A scanned copy of a valid photographic proof of identity (e.g. passport), for natural persons only (including from owners and executive officers of legal persons);

Ø  Registration documents, for legal persons only.

2) HOW TO SEND TENDERS?

Tenders must be sent to the Council of Europe electronically.

Electronic bids shall be sent only to [email protected] with the subject line “2021AO33 – Local consultancy services_Family Courts”.  Tenders submitted to another e-mail account will be excluded from the procedure.

The deadline for the submission of tenders is 05 July 2021.