Deadline: 19-Jun-23
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to improve the integrity and practical legal knowledge of law faculty students and judicial apprentices.
This project will work towards improving the justice sector by better preparing the cadre of future judges and prosecutors for the actual work of their professions. This project will take the first step in Law School education reform by identifying the exact areas where the current curricula are lacking and providing those skills and education through direct training of law students and judicial apprentices.
The project vision is in line with the Functional Bureau Strategy, specifically with Bureau
- Goal 1: Strengthen democracy and rule of law to advance Serbia’s European integration.
- Goal 2: Combat corruption and illicit financing to strengthen democratic institutions, advance rule of law, and reduce transnational crime and its enablers, and
- Goal 3: Strengthen criminal justice systems to support stable, rights-respecting partners, as well as Bureau
- Objective 3.1: Foundational elements of foreign criminal justice systems are able to address shared threats, promote human rights, and provide fair and equal justice to all citizens. The project will also support ICS.
Project Goal(s) and Objectives
- The project’s goal is to improve the knowledge and skill set of future justice sector professionals by introducing specialized training on practical legal skills during formal education of Law Faculty students.
- Objective 1: Conduct a needs assessment to identify the main deficiencies in competencies of new judicial apprentices in terms of their skills and abilities to perform the required legal practice tasks.
- Objective 2: Secure cooperation with law faculties, courts, and prosecutors’ offices through ensuring a systematic approach and wider outreach to students and judicial apprentices.
- Objective 3: Develop a training curriculum appropriate for law students, especially those in their final year of study and recent graduates taking on a new legal apprentice role, focused on practical legal skills needed in legal practice and in accordance with the findings of the needs assessment.
- Objective 4: Deliver the training curriculum to at least 100 law students/recent graduates and judicial apprentices.
- Objective 4: Work with the Law Faculty to introduce the comprehensive practical skills training curriculum into the existing educational framework available for students and legal apprentices.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $400,000
- Award Ceiling: $400,000
- Award Floor: $200,000.
- Length of performance period: 24 to 36 months.
Priority Region/Countries: Serbia.
Participants and Audiences: The intended program participants are law students, recent law school graduates, and apprentices in courts and prosecutor’s offices. The target audiences are Law Faculties, judges, prosecutors, professors, and all actors within the Serbian justice system.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible Applicant Types
- The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- Foreign-based non-profits/non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
- Foreign-based educational institutions.
- Other Eligibility Requirements
- Only NGOs and educational institutions based in Serbia may apply.
- In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a unique entity identifier (also known as UEI), as well as a valid registration.
- Individuals are not required to have a unique entity identifier or be registered.
- Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal, however one organization should be designated as the lead applicant and other organization(s) listed as sub-recipient partner(s).
- To be eligible to receive a federal assistance award, organizations must have a commitment to non‐discrimination with respect to beneficiaries and adherence to equal opportunity employment practices. INL is committed to an anti-discrimination policy in all of its programs and activities. INL welcomes applications irrespective of an applicant’s race, ethnicity, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or other status.
- Applicants are reminded that U.S. Executive Orders and U.S. law prohibits transactions with, and the provision of resources and support to, individuals and organizations associated with terrorism. It is the legal responsibility of the recipient to ensure compliance with these Executive Orders and laws. This provision must be
Note: Public International Organizations (PIOs) and For-Profit Organizations are excluded from applying to this grant announcement.
For more information, visit Improving Practical Skills in Serbia’s Legal Education.