Deutschland - Rechtsberatung - Expert platform for Ukraine"s EU alignment in the rule of law

3*E4U: Ukraine"s EU accession process in the rule of law area Strengthening Ukraine"s EU Alignment in the Rule of Law - 3*E4U is a project commissioned by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The project aims to support the Government of Ukraine in aligning its legislation with the EU acquis, focusing on Chapters 23 (Judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (Justice, freedom and security). These chapters cover judiciary, anti-corruption, fundamental rights, EU citizens' rights, border control, visas, migration, police cooperation, fight against organized crime and terrorism, customs cooperation, and judicial cooperation. To meet an opening benchmark for accession negotiations, Ukraine has established the Rule of Law Roadmap with around 500 reform measures. The 3*E4U project supports these reforms through legislative projects, functional audits, organizational reforms, sectoral strategies, action plans, and leadership selection. It enhances the capacities of Ukrainian Government actors to steer and implement the EU alignment process in the rule of law. Political partners include the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine (DPMO) and the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration (GOCEEI). Key implementation partners are the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, High Council of Justice, High Qualification Commission of Judges, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, National Social Service, Asset Management and Recovery Agency, and National Police. The project works in three areas: 1. Expertise: Provides legal and policy advice, capacity building activities, and high-level expert participation in the selection of rule of law sector positions. 2. Experience: Facilitates exchanges between Ukraine, EU Member States, and candidate countries. 3. Exchange: Fosters networking, cooperation, and inclusion of civil society and academia in decision-making. The project aims to enhance the capacities of national actors, enabling them to implement a cooperative and participatory EU alignment process. The services to be tendered concern the management and operation of an expert platform to provide advisory services to Ukrainian government institutions responsible for managing the EU accession process. To this aim, the platform pools in three Short-Term Expert Pools (STEP) international and national expertise on the chapters and clusters of the acquis Communautaire most relevant to the rule of law. The relevant expertise which should be provided by the STEPs will focus on the following areas, but is not limited to: EU law as a distinct legal system and European integration in general; - Structure and functioning of Ukraine"s judiciary; - Fundamental rights in the EU and its Member States; - Law enforcement, particularly in relation to organised crime and illicit financial flows; - Anti-corruption measures, including asset recovery and management. Two additional STEPs with translators and interpreters support the work of the experts. The contractor will ensure the platform"s continued functioning and development with the aim to provide the requested expertise in a very short time. For each expert assignment, the contractor will develop Terms of Reference and expert profiles in line with the identified needs of Ukrainian partners as the basis for the identification of suitable experts. The contractor will be responsible for the continuous process of identification, pre-selection contracting, and mobilization of suitable experts with relevant expertise and experience to carry out these assignments. In addition, the service provider will maintain and manage the platform"s community management system, which facilitates cooperation between affiliated experts, including those engaged outside the five STEPs. This includes disseminating relevant updates, news, and resources on Ukraine"s EU accession process and legal harmonization; ensuring shared access to key documentation; promoting interactive exchanges among experts as well as coordinating all community management tasks in close cooperation with the project.