Tunisia: Libya Constitutional Expert

Position Title: Libya Constitutional Expert
Position Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Est. Position Duration: ASAP – 31 March 2016

Background
Democracy Reporting International (DRI) is a non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organisation registered in Berlin. DRI promotes political participation of citizens, accountability of state bodies and the development of democratic institutions world-wide.
DRI is implementing a project to support the democratic constitutional process in Libya with funding from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Swiss FDFA in the period June 2015 – March 2016. The aim of the project is to provide technical expertise and legal advice to the Constitution Drafting Assembly in order to improve the technical quality of proposed text and to facilitate finding consensus/compromise on the contentious chapters. It also aims at arranging forums for debates and participation by Libya’s civil society organisations, as well as systematic public information on constitutional issues. This will be undertaken in close cooperation with the Libyan legal community.

Objective
The project therefore requires the services of an experienced constitutional expert with extensive knowledge of Libya’s political and legal context, and in particular the constitutional process to lead on the substance, to provide technical expertise, to provide guidance for short term experts and relevant team members and to lead on publications and relevant chapters of donor reports. The Constitutional Expert works under the supervision of the Project Director.

Duties and responsibilities
The Constitutional Expert’s task will be as follows:

• Represent DRI and the Project in the Libyan Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA), liaise with and attend meetings of the CDA members and regularly report to the Project Director and/or Project management at HQ in a timely manner on the on-going debate and work of the CDA;
• Monitor and analyse the political and constitutional process in Libya;
• Draft, review and contribute to analyses on the constitutional process and political developments in cooperation with DRI; ensure together with the Project team the overall accuracy of publications;
• Support the project with regards to monitoring of the constitutional and political process;
• Maintain and develop contacts among relevant stakeholders in Libya and within the international legal community;
• Organise and conduct workshops and other events within the project, lead on substance and agenda;
• Support the Project team in development of Project events (conferences, public forums, etc.) and deliver presentations at the events, if required;
• Support the Project Director with regard to the strategic project development from a legal perspective;
• Together with the Project Director create and facilitate (space for) debates and maximize outreach;
• Lead on publications in a form that will be agreed in advance (commentaries, briefing papers, memo, monthly reports, donor reports etc.);
• In coordination with the Project Director and/or project management at HQ present the project to the local stakeholders, give public presentations, interviews to the media, etc. on the constitutional process;
• Perform any other related duties that may be assigned by the Project Director;
• The Expert will be working under the supervision of and reports to the Project Director;
• The Expert will ensure monitoring and evaluation of project activities and outputs he/she is responsible for based on the work plan of the overall project description.

Qualifications/ Experience

• The candidate should hold an advanced university degree in a relevant subject such as Law, Political and Social Sciences or equivalent professional experience;
• At least 7 years of professional experience;
• Good knowledge of constitutional law and processes;
• Knowledge of the MENA region, and familiarity with political developments in Libya in particular is an asset;
• Team player who likes to work in a small team with people from various backgrounds;
• Good communication skills and diplomacy are essential;
• Fluency in English (speaking and writing) is essential, fluency in spoken and written Arabic is a strong asset.

Please send your application in one PDF file (cover letter, CV, and three contacts for references) to mena@democracy-reporting.org including ‘**Libya Constitutional Expert**’ in the subject line.

Closing date for applications: 20 November 2015. Only successful candidates will be contacted.