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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME
TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR AN ASSOCIATE EXPERT
FOR THE ORGANIZED CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SECTION (OCS)
INT-176-2-P111-01-V (revised Oct 2008)
Title:
Associate Expert
Duration:
1 year (with possible extension for another year)
Date required:
As soon as possible
Office:
Division for Treaty Affairs (DTA)
Treaty and Legal Assistance Branch (TLAB)
Organized Crime and Criminal Justice Section (OCS)
Duty Station:
Vienna, Austria
Area of Assignment:
Legal advisory services and related activities to assist
requesting States to become party to and fully implement the
United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized and the Human Trafficking, the Migrants and
the Firearms Protocols thereto.
Supervision:
Under the overall guidance of the Director of the Division and
the Chief of the Branch, the Associate Expert will work
under the direct supervision of the Chief, OCS. Supervision
will entail work assignment, discussion and approval of
time-bound work plan, regular guidance on how to
accomplish work goals, routine review of work progress,
review of all products, and periodic informal and formal
assessment of performance.
Duties, responsibilities and output expectations:
The Associate Expert will provide professional support for assisting Governments in
ratifying and putting into practice the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols related thereto (Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime; Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and
Sea, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime ; and Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in
Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United
Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime).
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Specific tasks within this general framework will be established through the
incumbent's work plan. Under the supervision of the Chief, OCS, the Associate
Expert will:
1. Provide substantive support in the conduct of legal assistance activities,
including:
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drafting of legal opinions on subjects relating to the implementation of the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and
the Protocols related thereto, and to domestic laws, policies, practices and
procedures of States;
preparing new or amending existing draft legislation for requesting States;
elaborating on new UNODC model laws or upgrading existing ones as
well as conceiving and drafting inputs to UNODC's implementation
guidelines for its model legislation;
conceiving and drafting inputs to UNODC's training manuals for
magistrates, judges and prosecutors, and other implementation working
tools such as the computer-based mutual legal assistance and extradition
request writer applications;
undertaking comparative legal research and preparing technical papers to
help States improve their implementation efforts and strengthen relevant
control mechanisms and infrastructure.
2. Provide administrative support in the conduct of legal assistance activities,
including:
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assisting in the conduct of and accompanying senior officers during legal
assistance missions;
mission preparation: preparation of briefs, research and reference materials,
e.g. legislation, jurisprudence, country profile; coordinating preparations
with all mission stakeholders, assisting with administrative arrangements;
mission follow-up: mission report preparation, settlement of draft laws and
legal opinions, mission evaluation;
facilitating and assisting in the conduct of legal workshops, training
seminars, legal conferences and expert working group meetings: making
audio-visual presentations, preparing technical papers, reference and handout documents, case studies, moot exercises, etc.; briefing participants on
evaluations, trends, research results, etc.; ensuring an adequate record of
proceedings;
assisting in the organization of legal workshops, training seminars, legal
conferences and expert working group meetings: assisting in negotiations
with host country; budget development, arranging for financial support and
arrangements for the meeting, preparing agendas, provide administrative
support for international experts as well as participants; preparing evaluation
questionnaires;
preparing, participating, recording and following up on internal operational
and management meetings, and generally assist in the day to day planning
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and management.
3. Undertake, collaborate or participate in the day-to-day core work of OCS, including:
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servicing sessions of the Conference of State Parties to the UN
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and the Commission
on Narcotics Drugs, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice, as well as drafting of legal assistance project documents or
components thereof to UNODC country, subregional or regional projects
and programmes; provide project implementation support where
appropriate;
drafting of technical and analytical inputs to UNODC reports to the
Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime and the UN subsidiary bodies such as the Commission
on Narcotics Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice;
drafting of technical, management and performance inputs to UNODC
reports to the UN oversight system, donors, etc.;
providing inputs to UNODC's strategic, operational and technical
documentation;
drafting of other reports, correspondence, background papers, briefing
notes, etc.
Outputs: Specific outputs will be continuously agreed upon at the beginning of each
assignment as outlined above, according to the nature of assigned tasks.
Qualifications, experience and competencies required:
Qualifications:
- advanced university degree in law.
Experience:
- at least two years professional experience in the field of law at national or
international level.
Language skills:
- excellent knowledge of English or French and corresponding legal drafting ability;
- knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish) an asset.
Competencies:
- Core values:
- Core competencies:
integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity;
analytical,
planning
and
organizational
skills;
communication skills; teamwork; creativity; client
orientation;
commitment
to
continuous
learning;
technological awareness and ability to utilize them
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effectively in
applications.
work,
especially
office
computer
Learning elements:
After a two year assignment, the Associate Expert will have acquired sufficient
expertise to advise on legal issues arising from national implementation of the United
Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols
related thereto, as well as the common provisions of the international drug control
conventions, and the corruption, crime and terrorism instruments; provide substantive
comments on relevant draft national legislation; independently organize and conduct
legal training events; give presentations on a variety of legal topics relevant to
transnational organized crime, trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants,
trafficking in firearms, and international cooperation and related issues; carry out
substantive assessment of project proposals and technical assistance requests; draft
project documents or components thereof according to UN standards and manage their
implementation.
Background Information:
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is established to implement
the Organization's Drug Programme and Crime Programme in an integrated manner,
addressing the interrelated issues of drug control, crime prevention and international
terrorism in the context of sustainable development and human security.
Through the Drug Programme, UNODC serves as the central drug control entity with
exclusive responsibility for coordinating and providing effective leadership for all
United Nations drug control activities. It serves as the repository of technical expertise
in international drug control for the Secretariat of the United Nations, including the
regional commissions, and other United Nations organs, as well as Member States, and
in this capacity advises them on questions of international and national drug control. It
acts, on behalf of the Secretary-General, in fulfilling responsibilities under the terms of
international treaties and resolutions of United Nations organs relating to
international drug control. It provides substantive services to the General
Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and committees and conferences dealing
with drug control matters.
Through the Crime Programme, UNODC is responsible for activities in the field of
international crime prevention and control, with special focus on strengthening
regional and international cooperation in preventing and combating transnational crime,
in particular organized and economic crime, money laundering, illicit trafficking in
women and children, financial crimes and terrorism in all its forms. It promotes effective
and fair administration of justice, with due respect for the rights of all those affected by
crime and involved in the criminal justice system. It serves as the repository of technical
expertise in the field of crime and terrorism prevention and criminal justice for the
Secretariat of the United Nations, including the regional commissions, and other United
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Nations organs. It acts on behalf of the Secretary-General in fulfilling responsibilities
under the terms of international instruments, standards, norms and resolutions in this
field. It provides substantive services to the General Assembly, the Economic and Social
Council and committees and conferences dealing with crime and terrorism prevention
matters.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is organized into four Divisions: The
Division for Treaty Affairs, the Division for Operations, the Division for Policy Analysis
and Public Affairs and the Division for Management. The Division for Treaty Affairs
has the primary responsibility for carrying out the normative functions of UNODC.
These functions relate mainly to the fulfillment of the pertinent treaty and legal
responsibilities of the Secretary-General under the terms of international drug and
crime control treaties and the resolutions of the United Nations organs, as well as
relevant aspects of terrorism prevention. This treaty and legal affairs "pillar" of the
work of the Office is concerned with the stewardship of already established
conventions in the drug abuse control area and the developm ent, promotion
and implementation of new conventions in the crime control area, such as
the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its
three Protocols, as well as the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The
normative programme is a central element of the UNODC's functions and comprises
the bulk of the crime control and drug policy support and coordination functions
mandated by the treaties and the UN General Assembly and its subsidiary organs. The
normative programme fulfils and provides the legal and treaty basis for international
cooperation and policy development in drug and crime control matters, from which
emanates the operational programme, which provides technical assistance to
requesting Governments in meeting their legal and treaty obligations and in
implementing relevant United Nations policies, including the application of United
Nations guidelines, standards and norms related to crime prevention and criminal justice.
When fulfilling its normative functions, the Division for Treaty Affairs also provides
direct assistance to Member States that seek assistance in implementing the legal
aspects of the crime and drug control treaties. Such technical cooperation component, of
an on-going nature, is an important contribution to and direct interaction of the Division
with the operational activities of UNODC. This support, undertaken especially by the
Organized Crime and Criminal Justice Section within the Treaty and Legal Assitance
Branch of the Division, takes the form of expert legal advice to Member States to bring
national laws and regulations into compliance with the existing United Nations
conventions or on measures required to implement existing United Nations standards and
norms. Legal experts in the Division develop legislative guides, model laws and
legislation, best practices tool kits, software packages to assist investigators and
prosecutors in developing treaty-related cases, training to legal practitioners and
needs assessments. In addition, they provide training to judges and prosecutors on
the drug and crime conventions and on the legislative measures required to
implement the international instruments.
Within the Organized Crime and Criminal Justice Section, the Legal Advisory
Programme delivers its legal assistance services through a global project thereby
helping States to ratify and effectively implement the international drug control
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conventions and the common provisions of the transnational organized crime,
corruption and counter terrorism instruments. The work involves strengthening
criminal justice infrastructure through essential legislation upgrading, justice system
training, improvement of judicial cooperation, and on-site operational support to
prosecution and judicial services. The Legal Advisory Programme assists Member
States, upon request, on the drafting, adoption and application of all necessary
legislation, strengthens the technical and operational skills of relevant professionals in
States that have adopted such legislation, and provides practical training and
implementation tools, to help them do their day-to-day work.
The Organized Crime and Criminal Justice Section within the Treaty and Legal
Assistance Branch of the Division for Treaty Affairs provides technical and
substantive services to the Conference of States Parties for the UN Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime. The Corruption and Economic Crimes Section within
the same Branch provides technical and substantive services to the Conference of States
Parties for the UN Convention against Corruption. The two Sections, respectively,
promote the ratification of these Conventions through targeted special measures and the
provision of technical assistance to requesting countries, in coordination and close
cooperation with the Division of Operations, which is responsible for the execution of
country projects and other relevant operational activities implemented under the
Global Programmes against organized crime, trafficking in human beings, corruption
and money laundering.
The Terrorism Prevention Branch of the Division fulfills UNODC's mandates in the
field of terrorism prevention. It works in close coordination with the Counter-Terrorism
Committee of the Security Council and focuses on the provision of substantive input for
the work of the Committee and technical assistance to requesting countries for the
ratification and implementation of the Terrorism Conventions and Protocols, in line
with relevant Council resolutions. Main work elements include facilitation and/or
provision of capacity-building assistance and identification and dissemination of best
practices. Related technical assistance activities are carried out under the
framework of the Global Programme against Terrorism.
The Division for Treaty Affairs includes the secretariat for the crime and drug
commissions in the Policy Support Section (PSS) and the secretariat for the
International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The Policy Support Section provides
technical and substantive support to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the United Nations Congresses
on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, while the INCB Secretariat provides
technical and substantive support to the INCB, all of which decide or recommend
policies and norms. The Policy Support Section also organizes workshops, seminars
and training events for practitioners in conjunction with commission and subcommission meetings as well as with the annual meetings of the Heads of Narcotic Law
Enforcement Agencies (HONLEA). The INCB Secretariat manages the control system
for licit controlled drugs and precursors, providing expert advice to Board members
and to Member States. The INCB also manages three special programmes that
coordinate governments efforts to combat diversions of the precursor chemicals used
in heroin, cocaine and synthetic drug production.
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Whereas the Division for Treaty Affairs is primarily responsible for the
fulfillment of UNODC's normative functions, the Division for Operations and the
Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs also undertake activities directly related
to the implementation of the normative aspects of work, such as providing reporting
and expertise to the governing bodies, follow-up action to their recommendations
and the development and dissemination of specialized technical knowledge. Other
prominent normative activities carried out by them are the work of the Laboratory and
Scientific Section and the inter-agency coordination and advocacy functions of the
Division of Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, as well as the many substantive
functions of the Human Security Branch of the Division of Operations, including those
relating to the anti-money laundering aspects of the drug, crime, and terrorism
conventions.
Further background information on the work of the UNODC is available at the
UNODC's web site (www.unodc.org).
The United Nations seeks the participation of suitably qualified female and male
candidates in the work of the drugs and crime programmes. It is urged that every effort
be made to locate and nominate suitable female and male candidates for the associate
expert position.
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