Terms of Reference: Consultancy for the Development of Police Training Guidelines for child-friendly handling of children in conflict and contact with the law in Sierra Leone
Background
The Sierra Leone Police (SLP), in its role providing security to the country, comes in contact with children in conflict with the law and child victims of crimes on a daily basis. There were 667 children that came in conflict with the law in Freetown and the three Regional HQ towns in 2012 and there were 1,336 child victims of crimes over that year.[1] Nationwide, the numbers are much higher: in 2009, 5,309 children were arrested.[2]
Because children’s experience, insight, and knowledge are different from that of an adult, a child who is suspected of having committed an offense or who is a victim of a crime should be treated differently from that of an adult suspect/victim. If a child is suspected of having committed an offense, the first contact between the child and an official from the criminal justice system is normally the police; this initial contact is critical. The manner in which the police officer treats the child may play a decisive role in persuading the child to change his or her ways and refrain from further involvement in criminal activities, or push the child further and deeper into a criminal lifestyle. Likewise, child victims and witnesses of crimes require special care and attention from the police in order to avoid re-traumatising the child and preserving evidence.
The Criminal Procedure Act (1965) provides guidance on the arrest and investigation of people suspected of having broken the law. However, there are no specific provisions for handling by police of children in the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), in the draft update, nor in the Children and Young Persons Act (CAP 44). The Child Rights Act (2007- CRA) provides the mandate to the Family Support Unit (FSU) for the handling of alleged juvenile offenders.[3] Other than raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 and establishing child panels, the Child Rights Act (CRA) does not provide procedural guidance on how to handle children in conflict with the law. Furthermore, many children come in contact with mainstream police officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), and the Operational Support Division as there is not national coverage of FSUs, and due to jurisdiction disagreement between FSU and CID officers.
The Sierra Leone Police has worked with international development partners to develop guidelines and SOPs for the treatment of victims of sexual and gender based violence, including brief guidelines for child victims. The existing guidelines and SOPs do not cover all child victims, nor do they discuss the needs of child witnesses. The SLP has made efforts to train its officers in mediation of conflicts. The SLP developed a module on child justice that was validated in July 2013 and is now part of the Police Training School training manual.
Justification for consultancy
There are no police guidelines available on the handling of children in conflict with the law in Sierra Leone, nor on the handling of child victims and witnesses.
The Child Justice Strategy (2014-2018) provides specifically for the development of guidelines and standardised training manuals for all justice sector agencies, in an effort to make the formal justice system more responsive to the needs of children. Guidelines are prescribed for the police, prosecutors, judiciary, probation officers, and detention centre officers.
Purpose of the consultancy
The consultant will support the SLP to develop user-friendly guidelines and SOPs on the appropriate handling of children in conflict and in contact with the law, namely child victims and witnesses. The guidelines and SOP will provide guidance to members of the SLP (including CID, FSU, OSD, and others) on the treatment of children in conflict and contact with the law in a manner appropriate to the child’s developmental stage, and with a proper balance of protection and public safety. The guidelines will build upon the guiding principles enumerated in the Child Welfare Policy and Child Justice Strategy 2014-2018.
Proposed topics to be covered by the guidelines[4]
Part 1: General Provisions
- Age Assessment[5]
- Child-friendly policing techniques
o Privacy, dignity, communication skills
o Child-friendly interview and investigation techniques
o Conduct at a crime scene
- Transportation of a child
- Record-keeping
Part 2: Children in conflict with the law
- Which agency within the SLP has jurisdiction to handle which types of juvenile cases
- Arrest
- Child-friendly investigation
- Family tracing and reunification[6]
- Detention / release / alternatives to detention
- Diversion/mediation; specifically identifying which offenses might be appropriate to mediate, and the process of mediation
- Handling of children under 14 who have been alleged to have committed an offense
- Links to the child protection and child welfare system
Part 3: Child victims and witnesses
- Links to the child protection and child welfare system
- Referral systems[7]
- Witness protection
Expected Deliverables
- Police Guidelines of children in contact and conflict with the law
- Police SOP for handling children in contact and conflict with the law
- Pocket guide with checklists and key messages
- Posters for police stations (liaising with UNICEF C4D specialists)
- Draft updated Child Justice training module
Supervision and Guidance
The consultancy and process will be steered by a Coordinating Committee managed by the Sierra Leone Police, and including representatives from at least the FSU, CID, MSWGCA, and UNICEF, as well as other stakeholders as appropriate. This Committee has already been established, and has helped develop this terms of this document. The consultant will report to UNICEF Child Protection Section.
Note regarding prosecution: The Consultant is expected to liaise with ASJP and the Director of Public Prosecution’s office to support ASJP consultant’s development of guidelines for police prosecutors.
Responsibilities of the consultants/ institution
- Ensure that all deliverables outlined in this ToR are achieved
- Final deliverables remain the property rights of UNICEF/Government of Sierra Leone
- Secure own laptop
Responsibilities of UNICEF
- Provide work space/internet for consultant in Freetown
- Provide access to documentation and support meetings with partners when and where necessary
- Provide logistical support to enable field trips of consultant where necessary
Timeframe
The contract is proposed for a period of approximately 40 work days over the course of three months. (See detailed proposed timeframe below.)
Qualifications required
· An institution/ individuals with previous international and regional experience working with police or security forces on child friendly policing techniques
· The lead consultant will have an advanced university degree in Social Sciences, law or equivalent
· At least five years of progressively responsible work experience at national and international level with technical knowledge in the area of child justice
· Knowledge and appreciation of UNICEF goals and work processes
· Excellent analytical and documentation skills
· Excellent communication and writing skills in English
· Excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills
· Adaptability and flexibility, confidentiality, initiative, concern for accuracy and quality
Terms of payment
· 20 percent upon signature of contract, submission of work schedule and proposed workshop agenda;
· 40 percent upon submission of draft guidelines, SOP, pocket guides, poster design
· 40 percent upon submission of final guidelines, pocket guides, SOP, posters, and draft training module
Proposed Workplan, Responsible Parties, and Timeline
Task / People/Organizations responsible / Time frameInitial meetings with police Crime Directorate to discuss and agree upon scope of guidelines / UNICEF/AIG Crimes/FSU / 1 October 2013
Meetings of sub-committee on guideline development for children in conflict with the law / 31 October through December 2013
Workshop with police and other stakeholders / Consultant (Based in Sierra Leone) / April or May 2014
Develop draft guidelines and SOP / Consultant (home-based) / April - May 2014
Consultative meetings with police and community at regional level / SLP / May 2014
Update and finalize guidelines and SOPs / Consultant (based in Sierra Leone) / May 2014
Development of pocket guides, checklists, and posters / Consultant/SLP / February – May 2014
Validation of guidelines and SOPs by Crime Services and Gender Directorates, and by Executive Management Board / SLP / June 2014
Updating of training modules based on new guidelines and SOPs / SLP / UNICEF / Consultant (home based) / June 2014
Printing of guidelines, posters, pocket guidelines / UNICEF / June 2014
Roll out of guidelines, SOPs, and pocket guides (not covered by this consultancy) / SLP with UNICEF support / June – December 2014
Technical criteria and Relative Points for Evaluation of Submissions
Technical Criteria / Technical Sub-Criteria / Maximum PointsOverall Response / Completeness of Response
Overall concord between request for proposal requirements and proposal / 10
10
Maximum Points / 20
Experience / Range and depth of experience with similar projects
Key Personnel: relevant experience and qualifications / 20
10
Maximum Points / 30
Proposed methodology and Approach / Project Management, monitoring and quality assurance process
Compatibility with UNICEF / 5
5
Maximum Points / 10
Total Maximum / 60
Application Procedure
Please provide Letter of Interest, CV, P-11 form, and a proposed timeframe/consulting fee based on this scope of work. Please include all travel costs, if applicable. If travelling from outside Sierra Leone, please provide a breakdown of travel expenses include US$126 for roundtrip boat ticket from Airport to Freetown.
4
[1] Data from the Child Justice Strategy Baseline data collection exercise conducted by MSWGCA, JSCO, FSU, and civil society partners in August 2013.
[2] Audet, A., 2010, ‘Beyond the Law: Assessing the realities of juvenile justice in Sierra Leone’, Defence for Children International – Sierra Leone.’
[3] Child Rights Act, Article 57.
[4] These topics are only a proposal; the final topics will be decided in cooperation with the SLP.
[5] Making reference to the Age Assessment Guidelines (SLP – 2012).
[6] Making reference to the MSWGCA FTR Guidelines.
[7] Making reference to the National Referral Protocol for Gender Based Violence and FTR guidelines