GRANT Contest on Legal Consolidation of the Network of Community-Based Paralegals, Connecting Them to Professional Legal Mechanisms and Promoting Improvement/Development of Professional Competencies for Paralegal Network Members
Context: The Soros Foundation-Moldova (SFM) is a non-governmental, non-for-profit and non-political organization which was established in 1992 by the financier and the philanthropist George Soros to promote the development of an open society in Moldova by developing and implementing a range of programs and activities that address specific areas of needs including media, legal reform, good governance, civic engagement and public health.
The Justice Program is currently implementing the “Shared Framework on Legal Empowerment” project, financed by the Open Society Foundations. The SFM, together with eight other partners from Macedonia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Ukraine and the United States was selected to participate in this regional project, due to its significant experience in creating an efficient system of access to justice, and to primary and secondary legal aid. The Project is a response to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations member states. It is estimated that, globally almost 4 billion people live outside a fair and functional justice system, whereas poverty and justice are strongly correlated. In this context, Soros Foundation-Moldova’s main goal is to develop, institutionalize and implement legal empowerment policies and practices that address the needs of vulnerable social groups. In order to reach this goal, two specific objectives have been set: to scale up the access to justice to the most vulnerable groups, and to ensure financial sustainability and institutionalize community-based legal services.
From 2011 to 2014, the Soros Foundation-Moldova implemented the Project “Boosting the Democratic Process in Moldova through Empowerment and Engagement”, under the financial support of the Swedish Government. The “Legal Empowerment of Rural Communities through a Network of Community-Based Paralegals” component aimed at providing rural community members with a vast legal knowledge and practice base, enabling them to defend their rights and seek their respect, under the aid of paralegals. For more information on the services provided by community-based paralegals, you could access www.parajurist.md. This Project’s results and issues are published under “Key Conclusions of a Pilot Project. Recommendations for Extending the Paralegal Network in Moldova”.
In order to accomplish the objectives of the “Shared Framework on Legal Empowerment” project, the Justice Program, in collaboration with the National Legal Aid Council (NLAC), has undertaken several activities throughout 2016, among which:
- Assisting the NLAC in organizing a workshop on the activity of the national legal aid system
- Hosting a study visit to Moldova by a delegation from Mongolia
- Contacting an Associate Lawyer’s Office on developing a Roadmap for institutionalizing the paralegal profession, creating a professional paralegals association, and establishing a financing system for them. A conclusive study will have been published by November’s end, 2016
- Identifying and selecting 10 new paralegals to join the network;
- Extending the community-based paralegal network in Moldova;
- Instructing national community-based paralegals network on human rights and discrimination.
General objective: support a project for Associate Lawyers’ Offices, which aims at legal consolidation of the Network of Community-Based Paralegals, connecting them to professional legal mechanisms and promoting improvement/development of professional competencies for paralegal network members.
The Project has a set of specific actionable tasks, which are laid out as follows:
Project outcome:
- Successfully established National Civil Association of Paralegals in the Republic of Moldova;
- 10 community-based paralegals have developed their capacities in the legal empowerment of specific vulnerable social groups;
- With the help of paralegals, at least 5 (pro bono) cases of strategic litigation[1] have been identified and sent to court;
- Due to said strategic litigations, 10 community-based paralegals are involved in advocacy activities, and actively contribute to system changes in communities, which would supersede individual remedies and involve structural changes.
Eligibility criteria:
Associate Lawyers’ Offices interested in participating in this contest should meet the following criteria:
- Functional organization management
- Maximal clarity in distributing litigation cases
- Transparency in pricing mechanism
The members of participant Associate Lawyers’ Offices should meet the following qualifications:
- University degree in Law, social sciences or other relevant fields. Post-graduate studies would be considered an asset;
- Relevant individual work experience (minimum 5 years) in access to justice and state guaranteed legal aid (members proposed for participation in the project should have a proven work experience of minimum 5 years). Knowledge on functioning models of using community-based resources in providing primary legal aid, education and information to vulnerable social groups;
- Proven experience in strategic litigation and promotion of state guaranteed legal aid;
- Thorough knowledge of United Nations, European Union, European Council norms and standards, as well as other international standards in vulnerable groups access to justice;
- Thorough knowledge of history and essence of the legal reform in the Republic of Moldova, starting with 1994;
- Experience in grant project management;
- Experience in collaborating with the paralegal network and/or with the National Legal Aid Council will be considered an asset;
- Excellent analytic and communication skills;
- Be responsible, creative, and flexible;
Participants may submit only one project financial proposal per Office.
Project duration: will not exceed 12 months. Activities should be planned starting 20 November 2016.
Budget: the financial proposal should not exceed $25,000.00. A detailed budget should be developed and presented in accordance with the Foundation-approved budget form.
Assessment criteria for financial proposals:
- Applicant team’s/project coordinator’s proven professional and managerial capacity (team members’ previous experience in implementing similar projects, reputation, experience proven by partners, etc.)
- Relevance of the project goal and strategy to the contest’s general objective and eligibility criteria;
- Project proposal quality:
o Thorough analysis of underlying issue, causes and effects;
o Well-formulated and interrelated goal, objectives and implementation strategy. Properly identified national and international mechanisms to be used in strategic litigation. Innovative approach to the problem. Degree of implication of the parties interested in the project;
o Feasible action plan;
o Realistic and measurable results and impact;
o Durability.
- A project budget that is reasonable and correlated to project activities.
Financial proposals will be examined and approved by the members of the Soros Foundation-Moldova Justice Program Jury, according to the abovementioned assessment and eligibility criteria. A decision on granting a financial proposal will be taken before the end of November 2016.
The Foundation will not comment rejected applications/projects.
APPLICATION should include the following documents:
- Completed financial proposal form
- Project budget
- Grant administration capacity questionnaire
- The Curricula Vitae of applicant Office’s director, project director, accountant, project implementation team, the Curricula Vitae of the lawyers/jurists, indicating relevant experience, as well as a copy of the Office’s activity license. (Please make sure that the CVs include the following details: previous employers, periods of employment, positions held, obligations/responsibilities, grant management experience, experience relevant to this project).
- Other relevant materials.
APPLICATION SUBMISSION:
Complete applications, written in Romanian, should be submitted to the Soros Foundation-Moldova headquarters: 32 Bulgara str., Chisinau, MD-2001, or by email to . The deadline for submitting applications is 10 November 2016, 16:00. Application files should be addressed to the attention of the Justice Program. Grant contest on Legal Empowerment of the Population. Please make sure to receive a successful submission confirmation. In lack thereof, the Foundation does not bear any responsibility for applications that were submitted, but have not been received.
Applications that are incomplete, or have been submitted past the deadline, will not be considered. Submitted applications will not be returned to applicants, with exception of photos and copies of artistic works, as well as video and audio materials.
Additional details can be inquired with the Program Coordinator, Natalia Camburian, by email at , or by phone at 022-270031, 022-274480.
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[1] Through strategic litigation, we imply those issues that have the potential to spur a system change within the society, cases that would supersede individual remedies and involve structural changes. The final goal of strategic defenses would be to modify legislation, public policies, or the practices of relevant public institutions. Strategic litigation cases would allow for the development of solid argumentation and put heavy pressure on decision-makers, in order to promote efficient development/amendments/applications or annulment of dysfunctional legislation.
In developing their financial proposals, applicants may use the following reference criteria for selecting strategic litigation cases:
- The case represents a larger issue, and its resolution may bear a significant impact on society;
- Case resolution may have an effect on legislative amendments, or on abusive/weak applied legislative practices, as well as on the judiciary system, or would force conformation to European and international standards in this field, through redefining certain rights, rectifying legislative loopholes, revealing discrepancies between indicated norms and the Constitution, or different international conventions or treaties, etc.
- Through media broadcasting, the case may raise society’s awareness regarding specific issues. Likewise, it would contribute to improvements in public discourse regarding this issue.
- Possibility of strategic partnerships with other organizations or institutions, during either litigation, or following advocacy efforts, which would aim at sustaining the results achieved in court.