Reference: G/VAN/050
Location: Port Villa, Vanuatu
Duration: 2 Years
Closing Date: 16 Dec 2011
Background
In 2006, the Constitution of the Republic of Vanuatu was amended to increase the number of judges of the Supreme Court from three to twelve. Currently there are five judges of the Supreme Court including the Chief Justice. One Judge is located on the island of Espirito Santo where a branch of the Supreme Court is situated.
Vanuatu's legal system is a combination of the common law and civil system. However, in practice the common law predominates but there the possibility exists for a legal action to be founded on the French civil code in existence prior to independence.
The national languages of Vanuatu are Bislama, English and French. Despite the great difficulty in unifying laws based on the very different English and French traditions, Vanuatu has sought to establish a single system based on British criminal procedure and the French penal code. The constitution establishes a Supreme Court, with a Chief Justice and three other judges, as well as an Appeals court. Village and island courts have jurisdiction over customary and other matters.
Purpose of the project
To enhance the institutional capacity of the Supreme Court to effectively deal with delays and backlog of cases.
Duties and Responsibilities
The project will provide a Supreme Court judge for a period of two years. The appointed judge will be based at the Supreme Court in Port Vila and will work closely with the Chief Justice and two locally appointed Supreme Court judges.
During the implementation period it is expected that the appointee will undertake the following activities, inter alia
- preside over all cases as assigned;
- assist the Chief Justice on developments with regards to commercial law;
- assist the Chief Justice on developments of case management processes, systems and rules with regards to commercial cases;
- provide mentoring to the locally appointed judges with regard to judgments in commercial cases;
- assist the Chief Justice with any national judicial training programs; and
- Assist with any other request made by the Chief Justice.
Outputs (Deliverables)
- Increased rate of disposition of cases in the Supreme Court;
- Trained locally appointed judges in commercial cases;
- Working case management processes and rules for commercial cases; and
- Timely disposition of cases in the Supreme Court.
Implementation Arrangements
The Expert will work closely with Commonwealth Secretariat Advisers in delivering this technical assistance. The Expert will be based in the Supreme Court in Port Vila for a period of two years and will report to the Chief Justice of the Republic of Vanuatu or nominee.
Person Specification
The successful candidate is expected to possess the following educational qualifications and relevant work experience:
Education and Experience
Essential
- Degree and professional qualification in law,
- Minimum of 15 years professional experience as a judge of a Supreme Court (or equivalent), in any Commonwealth jurisdiction including a minimum of 5 years experience of hearing commercial cases at the High Court or equivalent level,
- Strong presentation, communication and report writing skills,
- Credible and in good professional standing,
- Fluency in written and spoken English,
- Computer skills: word processing, spreadsheet, presentations.
Desirable
- Experience of developing and delivering capacity building inputs for the justice sector.
- Familiarity with Roman Dutch law.
- Experience of working in a Commonwealth Country or/ the Pacific region.
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