Background and rationale

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

Within the ICC, the Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) operates as a subsidiary body of the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) exercising operational independence under the authority of the President of the ASP. Its purpose is to provide assurance to the Assembly of the effective and comprehensive oversight of the Court in order to enhance its efficiency and economy. This is achieved through the conduct of its three-fold mandate, namely; conducting independent evaluations, investigations and inspections.

The IOM is a subsidiary body of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute established in accordance with article 112, paragraph 4, of the Rome Statute, by Assembly resolution ICC-ASP/8/Res.1 of 26 November 2009, and amended by resolution ICC-ASP/19/Res.6 of 16 December 2020.

Purpose of the Assignment

On 12 November 2024, the Bureau of the ASP requested the IOM to conduct a case study evaluation on complementarity, specifically by assessing complementarity activities in a country whereby the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with a State Party. The purpose of the evaluation is to highlight the joint complementarity commitments and take stock of the progress made on these by the OTP and a State counterpart in a country selected by the IOM where there is a signed MoU on complementarity. The objectives of the evaluation are to:

1. create a theory of change [1] concerning the MoU commitments and beyond, in terms of the intended changes that the State and the OTP envisage in co-creating in the given country (and region), identifying the preconditions and assumptions and target stakeholders;
2. assess if the MoU adequately responds to the needs of the selected national judicial system and within the boundaries of OTP’s mandate and policy on complementarity;
3. take stock of the results achieved in implementing an MoU on complementarity between the OTP and a selected country in terms of activities, outputs and outcomes;
4. assess what challenges exist in implementing the MoU and what enabling factors support its implementation;
5. assess if the activities envisaged in the MoU are likely to sustainably develop capacity at the national level and meet the longer term complementarity goals;
6. distil lessons from the ongoing implementation of the MoU, including on mainstreaming human rights principles.

The evaluation is intended to be useful for the ASP and the working group on complementarity, the OTP, the States and other relevant entities with whom the OTP has signed the MoU and the Court overall in the context of the OTP’s strategic focus on complementarity. The evaluation is also intended to be of primary use to the rights holders, particularly the victims and communities affected by Rome Statute crimes. It is intended to be useful to external stakeholders of the Court and the OTP who are interested in complementarity activities or developments, particularly civil society organisations in the country, as well as the regional and international actors. The evaluation results will provide feedback to the implementation of OTP’s Strategic Goal 2: “Enhance efforts by national authorities to fight impunity” under the current Office of the Prosecutor Strategic Plan 2023-2025.

Scope of Work

Under the supervision of the Senior Evaluation Specialist, with oversight from the Head of IOM, the consultant will be responsible for performing the following tasks:

• Carry out analyses related to the evaluation e.g. theory of change, stakeholder mapping, analysis of issues from interviews etc.
• Collect primary data by conducting interviews, focus groups and questionnaires with evaluation participants.
• Analyse and summarise the data and information collected and validate them with the participants and through other sources.
• Draft an evaluation report with findings and recommendations.
• Consider and integrate feedback from the IOM and the evaluand to finalise the evaluation report.

Specific Tasks and Deliverables

• The Consultant is required to work remotely and in Headquarters, to conduct in-person and online interviews, facilitate focus groups, and to perform the above mentioned duties and thereafter produce a Report of sufficient quality.
• Contingent on resources, the consultant is expected to undergo mission travel with the Senior Evaluation Specialist
  

Indicative level of remuneration

• The delivery of the project will be remunerated for a lump sum of 30,000 upon its satisfactory completion, in line with the evaluation terms of reference.
• Payment will be made upon delivery of the Report and confirmation from the Senior Evaluation Specialist and Head, IOM, that it is of sufficient quality to be considered final and could be further disseminated if necessary

Other Requirements

• The Consultant will be required to sign a declaration of confidentiality, conflict of interest and ethical conduct in evaluation, following the UN Evaluation Group’s ethical guidelines in evaluation.
• The consultant will be conducting his/her work in line with the UN Evaluation Group’s Norms and Standards for evaluation.
• Any output or deliverable will be the property of the IOM, and may not be shared by the Consultant with anyone, without the express written consent of the Head, IOM.
• Any document provided by the IOM to the consultant shall be kept confidential, and either returned to the IOM or destroyed upon completion of the assignment.