​​Montenegro made considerable progress in the reform of the country’s judicial system with juvenile justice as an integral component. One of the major results of the juvenile justice system reform was the adoption of the Act on the Treatment of Juveniles in Criminal Proceedings (2011), in line with international standards of child rights protection, that provides the legal framework for a comprehensive, rights-based system of juvenile justice in Montenegro and adaptations of general mainstream system for children in conflict with the law, children victims and witnesses of crime. The new legislation has set specialization for police officers, judges, prosecutors and defence attorneys dealing with juveniles as mandatory, which is seen as a crucial point for the successful implementation of a specialized juvenile justice system. The new legislation introduced set of diversion orders/alternative measures for children in conflict with the law-redirection as the spirit of the law is to go from punitive to restorative justice approach, supporting rehabilitation and resocialization of children involved in criminal justice processes. ​In 2026, under the lead of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Montenegro, the Law on the treatment of children in criminal proceedings proposed amendments for even better improvement and protection of children in criminal proceedings. As in the previous version, the Law outline requirements for specialized training of professionals working with juveniles in criminal proceedings, including prosecutors, judges, police, lawyers, and staff in correctional institutions.They must receive continuous training in child rights and appropriate procedures, delivered by the Centre for education in courts and prosecution. However, the novelty introduced in the amendments of the Law is that the training program, content, its standards, and certificates for the training should be defined by the MoJ.

​The Law also regulates mediation between juveniles and victims, used as an educational measure. If conditions are met, the juvenile prosecutor refers both parties to mediation, through the Centre for alternative dispute. The mediator must be specially trained and is chosen jointly by the juvenile and the victim or appointed by the prosecutor if they cannot agree. The novelty in the amendments of the Law is that the MoJ sets out the training program and certification requirements for mediators. ​The objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support to the MoJ in developing the training programme for justice professionals dealing with children in criminal proceedings (both offender and victims and witnesses of crime) and training programme for mediators on mediation between juveniles and victims.

Scope of Work

​​Under the supervision of Child Protection Officer and in close coordination with the MoJ, ​the consultant shall:

1. Review international standards on child-friendly justice and national legislation, including the amendments of the Law on children in criminal proceedings, Law on alternative dispute resolution, and other relevant documents -  4 days.
2. Discussion with the MoJ and judicial partners on the outline of the training programme.
3. Prepare training programme for justice professionals (judges, prosecutors, police officers) identify mediation competencies required for work with juveniles in conflict with the law and children victims and witnesses of crime.The training programme should include training material, modules and quality assurance standards.
4. Develop the training curriculum, including modules on childsensitive mediation, communication, safeguards, and ethics. Propose delivery methods, duration, supervision requirements, and quality assurance standards.
5. Create a standard certificate template for both training. 

• Ten(10) or more years of experience and expertise in justice for children area
• Experience in developing training’s material and delivering trainings to justice professionals from the justice and child protection field
• Familiarity with the local context in Montenegro with respect to the juvenile justice and justice for children system reform
• Knowledge of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and relevant international (UN and CoE) standards on child friendly justice
• Previous work experience with UN/UNICEF or other international organization will be considered as an advantage

Language

• Excellent command of English and knowledge of Montenegrin language for communication is required

Selection methodology

A)Technical Evaluation (max 75 Points)

 Technical Evaluation Criteria

1. Technical experience/expertise in the subject area
2. ​​Education
3. ​​Proposed methodology​
4. Example of previous work in the subject matter

B)Financial proposal (max 25 points)

Remarks