FINAL Panama RFP for Justice Training.docx

United States Department of State Public Notice

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL)

Theme(s): Support for Justice Sector Training

Announcement Type: Request for Proposals (RFP)

Project Title: Reinforcing Panama’s Implementation of an Accusatory Justice System

Funding Opportunity Number: SINLEC15CA00XX INL-15-CA-0004-WHPPanama-12022014

CFDA Number: 19.703

Amount of Award: Not to exceed $250,000 for the program/s listed below.

Number of Awards: 1

Type of Award: Cooperative Agreement

Anticipated Award Date: Within four weeks of the closing of this announcement. Successful applicants will receive notification.

Deadline for Applications: Complete proposal packages must be received by 11:59 pm EST on December 3115, 2014 via www.grants.gov. or via email to HYPERLINK "mailto:LeonMA2@state.gov" LeonMA2@state.gov. DOS encourages applicants to submit proposal packages via Grants.gov.

In order to receive a federal assistance award, organizations must complete the www.grants.gov registration process. Since registration can take up to four weeks, organizations are urged to begin the registration process well in advance of the submission deadline. No exceptions will be made for applicant organizations that have not registered for www.grants.gov.

Foreign Applicants: Organizations residing and conducting business outside the United States are also required to register for www.grants.gov .

Foreign applicants must log into https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/scage/CageList.aspx to begin the registration process for an NCAGE code.

For foreign registrants who are unable to submit by Internet, contact the National Codification Bureau of the country where your organization is located. For a list of addresses, go to http://www.dlis.dla.mil/nato_poc.asp.

The Code is a five-character ID number and will take 4-5 business days. Prior to registering in SAM, insure that the newly assigned NCAGE is listed on the Business Identification Number Cross- Reference System (BINCS) at https://www.dlis.dla.mil/bincs/details.aspx.

If the assigned NCAGE is not listed in BINCS, call 1-269-961-4623 or send a message to NCAGE@dlis.dla.mil.

SAM Registration (www.sam.gov)

SAM.gov registration is required prior to receiving a federal assistance award. INL recommends that applicants start the www.sam.gov registration process prior to or immediately after the submission of proposal in response to this RFP. Failure to complete the SAM registration would result in the organization’s inability to receive USG federal assistance funds.

NCAGE Code - Special Requirements for Non-U.S. Applicants Non-U.S. organizations must first obtain a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) CAGE (NCAGE) Code from the appropriate source. The NCAGE Code can be obtained directly from the Codification Bureau in-country. Applicants should view the up-to-date list of countries and the information necessary to contact the Codification Bureau

NOTE: Organizations must obtain a DUNS number prior to completing the SAM.gov registry process.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

· Be a registered U.S. non-profit organization, 501 (c) (3) including civil society organizations; foreign NGO, religious association, or educational institution based or working in Panama. Foreign applicants must be registered in Panama or submit proof that they are seeking registration at the time of proposal submission;

· Have demonstrated experience providing technical expertise to support the implementation of accusatorial justice systems in countries where Spanish is the most widely spoken language.

· Have demonstrated experience working with non-U.S. justice sector professionals, including prosecutors, judges, police investigators, forensics experts, and defense attorneys.

· Have existing capacity or ability to develop active network of technical experts and provide these experts as guest instructors to teach an established Panamanian government curriculum of criminal justice training.

· Applicants are required to submit the documents listed in the Proposal Submission Instructions (see attached)

NOTE: Organizations may form consortia and submit a combined proposal. However, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant. The lead applicant must meet the eligibility criteria listed above.

SUMMARY

Overall Mission: The mission of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is to minimize the impact of international crime and illegal drugs on the United States, its citizens, and partner nations by providing effective foreign assistance and fostering global cooperation. This mission centers on helping our partner nations establish a capable and accountable criminal justice sector. This mission supports Peace and Security by stabilizing and strengthening security and rule of law institutions to build a global security capacity and by combating narco-trafficking and other transnational crimes such as money laundering and criminal gangs. It promotes Governing Justly and Democratically by strengthening justice sector institutions, good governance, and respect for human rights.

INL supports this mission by helping stronger governments take responsibility as equal partners in this struggle to disrupt organized crime and other destabilizing groups. The Bureau’s programs support three inter-related objectives:

· BUILDING CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS: Institutionalize rule of law by developing and expanding criminal justice systems to strengthen partner country law enforcement and judicial effectiveness, foster cooperation in legal affairs, and advance respect for human rights.

· COUNTER-NARCOTICS: Disrupt the overseas production and trafficking of illicit drugs through targeted counter-narcotics and institution-building assistance and coordination with foreign nations and international organizations.

· TRANSNATIONAL CRIME: Minimize the impact of transnational crime and criminal networks on the U.S. and its allies through enhanced international cooperation and foreign assistance.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF PROGRAM

In Panama, INL’s efforts focus primarily on supporting the phased implementation of an accusatorial justice system (SPA). Panama is implementing the SPA in four stages. The first stage commenced on September 2, 2011, when the accusatorial system was implemented in the Second Judicial District (Coclé and Veraguas provinces). The second stage began in September 2012, in the Fourth Judicial District (Herrera and Los Santos provinces). The Third Judicial District (Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro provinces) will come on line in September 2015. Finally, the First Judicial District (encompassing the provinces of Panama, Panama West, Colon, Darien, and the territory of San Blas) will complete the nationwide implementation in September 2016. The implementation requires all justice sector professionals to understand the new system, adequately work together to investigate and prepare the case, and most importantly, to present the case in a coherent manner at oral hearings and trial.

INL has assisted the Government of Panama to develop a comprehensive criminal justice training curriculum and a cadre of Panamanian trainers. Panamanian trainers are teaching this curriculum to the country’s justice sector professionals to prepare them for the full implementation of the accusatorial justice system. The curriculum is fundamentally multidisciplinary and is designed to teach all elements of the justice sector – prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, police investigators, and forensics experts – how their roles are interrelated and how they must work together to ensure efficient and transparent administration of justice. The curriculum is divided into four main subjects:

· Litigation and Trial Advocacy, for prosecutors and for defense attorneys

· Investigation Management, for prosecutors, police investigators, and forensics experts

· Inter-Institutional Formation in the Accusatory Justice System (FISPA) (7 modules), for all justice sector personnel

1. Fundamental Values and Ethics for the Administration of Justice

2. Constitutionality and Civil Rights

3. Victims and Witnesses

4. Investigation, Chain of Custody, and Introduction of Evidence

5. Negotiation, Plea Agreements, and Alternative Sentencing

6. Legal Argument and Oral Litigation Techniques

7. Sentencing and Corrections

· Training of Trainers for the Inter-Institutional Formation in the Accusatory Justice System (FFISPA) program (same 7 modules above)

TARGET THEMES AND ACTIVITIES

The recipient will provide national or international experts with practical experience under an accusatorial justice system, who will serve alongside Panamanian government trainers as guest instructors co-teaching the curriculum outlined above to Panamanian justice sector personnel, which INL will share with the recipient. Experts provided by the recipient will provide value-added by drawing on their practical experience to assist in the presentation of course material. Their presence will enable Panamanian government trainers to develop a deeper and more thorough understanding of the course material and assist in linking theory to practice in the context of an accusatorial justice system.

Expert guest instructors will:

· Participate as a facilitator and instructor on assigned topics.

· Participate actively in class sessions, workshops, and simulations, in collaboration with other national and international instructors.

· Submit any presentation materials on assigned topics five days in advance of the course.

· Design and score participant exams on assigned topics to demonstrate student learning.

The recipient will provide 1-3 experts as co-instructors alongside Panamanian government personnel, depending on the specific course. All courses will be conducted in Panama, although they will be conducted at various sites throughout the country. FISPA and FFISPA courses are each five days long, while Litigation & Trial Advocacy and Investigation Management courses are each three days long. INL and the Government of Panama anticipate conducting the following courses over the next 12 months:

Expert guest instructors provided by the recipient must meet the following minimum requirements:

· Fluent Spanish speaker

· Graduate of an accredited law school

· International Experts: Five (5) years’ work experience in an accusatorial justice system as a prosecutor, judge, defense attorney, forensics expert, or police investigator.

· National (Panamanian) Experts: Two (2) years’ work experience in an accusatorial justice system as a prosecutor, judge, defense attorney, forensics expert, professor, or police investigator.

· Prior experience as a university-level instructor or trainer in law, criminology, or accusatorial justice systems, or a related field.

· Familiarity with Panama’s Criminal Procedural Code. [Note: The recipient may satisfy this requirement after identifying an otherwise qualified expert guest instructor, perhaps by providing some form of pre-deployment training or briefing.]

Through this cooperative agreement, the Recipient will support justice sector training activities, including through the arrangement of travel and disbursement of funds. The Recipient will obtain travel documents for participants, provide travel advances, arrange airline tickets, contract for health and accident insurance, arrange lodging, provide refreshments and meals, recover unused funds, maintain a training database, and report regularly on program activities.

SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT

INL shall be substantially involved during the implementation of this Cooperative Agreement in the following ways:

1) Approval of the Recipient’s annual work plans, including: planned activities for the following year, travel plans, planned expenditures, event planning, and changes to any activity to be carried out under the Cooperative Agreement;

2) Approval of the selection of individual experts to be provided as co-instructors;

a. In some cases, INL will designate specific experts as preferred facilitators for certain courses based on their past performance in similar courses, including courses conducted prior to this award. INL has an existing roster of approximately 15 such facilitators who are occasionally available. The Recipient will make travel arrangements and pay honoraria or consulting fees, as necessary, to support these experts, just as it would do for all other expert guest instructors identified directly by the Recipient.

i. Certain experts employed full-time by government institutions, either in the U.S., Panama, or third countries, typically will not require honoraria. Their participation as expert guest instructors is considered by their institutions as part of their official duties.

b. Similarly, INL may direct the Recipient to provide a certain kind of expert to match specific courses, for example by requesting a prosecutor for a Litigation and Trial Advocacy course.

3) Approval of sub-award Recipients (if any), and concurrence on the substantive provisions of the sub-awards; and coordination with other cooperating agencies; and

4) Approval of Monitoring and Evaluation Plan

5) Other country specific approvals will be included in the award documents

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Please refer to the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI) for more information on how to apply to this Request for Applications (RFP). This announcement is designed to accompany INL’s PSI, which contain additional information on the proposal’s content and formatting. Please use both the PSI and this announcement to ensure that your proposal submission is in full compliance with INL’s requirements and that the proposed activities are in line with INL’s priorities. Proposal submissions that do not meet all of the requirements outlined in the RFP and PSI will not be considered.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Applicants must abide by all relevant administrative and national policy requirements regarding civil rights; labor standards; intergovernmental review; disbarment and suspension; drug-free workplace; lobbying restrictions; conservation in procurement; crimes and prohibited activities; protection of human subjects; care and use of laboratory animals; recombinant DNA molecules; bio-safety in laboratories; conflicts of interest; patents and copyrights; impact on the physical environment and animal community; historic preservation; impact on the human community; and contract employment conditions, as applicable to the project’s activities.

INL will NOT consider proposals that reflect any type of support for any member, affiliate, or representative of a designated terrorist organization or narcotics trafficker, including elected members of government.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

For questions regarding the submission instructions (PSI), please contact Manuel Leon LeonMA2@state.gov.