Local consultant for Language Review and Evaluation of language versions of Key Legislation

ISSUED BY OSCE Mission in Kosovo
VACANCY NUMBER VNKOSC02293
VACANCY TYPE Experts/Consultants
NUMBER OF POSTS 1
DUTY STATION Prishtine / Pristina
DATE OF ISSUE 8 October 2020
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION 18 October 2020 – 23:59 Central European Time (CET/CEST)

Background 

For the past three years, in order to remedy significant translation deficiencies, the Mission has supported the review and translation of 13 justice related Laws  into Serbian. All reviewed and translated laws or draft laws were handed over to the Ministry of Justice, which is the sponsor of these laws. However, they could not yet be amended and/or replaced without the necessary legal basis. In this regard the Law on Legal Acts, expected to be adopted by the Assembly in 2020,will provide the legal basis for language compliance in legislation. This activity foresees supporting the Legal Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the Language Commissioner to initiate first steps of streamlining the process of correcting normative acts.

Objective

The activity envisages hiring of a local consultant (Albanian and Serbian speaking), for two (2) months. The objective of the consultancy is to carry out an evaluation of the language review and provide evaluation of language versions of identified key pieces of legislation.

The objective will be reached through the following activities:

(i)  to interview/survey Serbian-speaking advocates, prosecutors, and judges on the most significant errors found in normative acts pertinent to their daily activities; (ii) to support the development of a review/analysis indicating these significant errors and suggest correct translation based on the procedure foreseen by the draft Law on Legal Acts; (iii) organise three (3) workshops either in person or online with interlocutors in Kosovo to discuss consultant’s findings. (iv) to submit the final suggested corrections to the Language Commissioner and the Legal Office of the Prime Minister, for their enactment, upon the entry into force of the draft Law on Legal Acts.

The duration of consultancy of forty-two (42)days.

Tasks and Responsibilities 

Under the supervision of, and in co-ordination with the Project Manager, the consultant will:

• Develop interviews/surveys methodology and respective questionnaires;
• Carry out online or in person interviews/surveys with Serbian-speaking advocates, prosecutors, and judges and other relevant actors on the most significant errors in normative acts;
• Assist the Office of Language Commissioner in their work related to language compliance and analysis of compliance of draft legislation;
• Develop agenda and hold 3 online or in person workshops to discuss and finalize findings from interviews/surveys;
• Submit the final suggested corrections to the Language Commissioner and the Legal Office of the Prime Minister for their enactment, upon the entry into force of the draft Law on Legal Acts.

Deliverables:

• Questions for interviews/surveys on the most significant errors in normative acts are drafted by 1 November 2020;
• Interviews/surveys with Serbian-speaking advocates, prosecutors, and judges on the most significant errors in normative acts are conducted by 30 November 2020;
• Findings and analysis from the interviews/surveys are finalised after discussions with stakeholders in the workshops by 10 December 2020;
• Final report with feedback from participants is submitted on time to the Mission’s Chief of Law and Justice Section (LJS) by 15 December 2020;

Performance Indicators:

• The interview/survey is prepared on time, in the agreed form and of satisfactory quality to the Chief of LJS;
• A document outlining the most significant errors in normative acts, coming out of the interviews/surveys with Serbian-speaking advocates, prosecutors, and judges, is prepared in the agreed form and of satisfactory quality to the Chief of LJS and the Language Commissioner;
• The three (3) online or in person workshops with the Office of the Language Commissioner, the Kosovo Judicial Council, the Ministry of Justice and other government relevant bodies, along with newly-appointed Serbian-fluent judges is timely delivered and meets the needs of the participants;
• Final Report with suggested corrections is delivered to the Language Commissioner and the Legal Office of the Prime Minister for their enactment, upon the entry into force of the draft Law on Legal Acts.

Necessary Qualifications

• University degree in law, human rights and/or related field;
• Certified Court translator in Albanian and Serbian is desirable;
• Knowledge of the Kosovo legal framework;
• Excellent knowledge of legal terminology in Albanian and Serbian;
• Preferable experience in translating local or regional legislation;
• Knowledge on developing surveys and conducting analysis;
• Proven capacities to co-ordinate and timely manage a large workload;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in Albanian, Serbian and English;
• Professional experience in a multi-cultural setting;
• Ability and willingness to work as a member of a team, with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity.
• Experience in delivering trainings/workshops

Remuneration Package  

Remuneration will depend on the qualifications and experience of individual experts as well as the detailed work plan to be agreed upon and will be based on the current OSCE consultancy rates.

How To Apply 

In order to apply for this position you must complete the OSCE’s online application form, found under https://jobs.osce.org/. Applicants are encouraged to use the online recruitment and only fully completed OSCE applications will be accepted. However, if you have technical difficulties with the system you may use the offline application form found under https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/offline-application-form and forward the completed form quoting the vacancy number by e-mail to: [email protected]. In line with your qualifications please indicate preference to one or more field of expertise listed above (while using the online application the field of expertise preference can be indicated in the cover letter part). Kindly note that applications received after the deadline, submitted in different formats than the OSCE Application Form or in other languages than the English language would not be considered. The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply.

⇒ More information.