International Consultant – Contextualisation and Development of Training Materials for an Upcoming IIJ Judicial Symposium for Criminal Court Judges in Uzbekistan (December 2026)

Reports To: Programme Manager, Programmatic Unit

Location: Remote, with travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, for delivery of the symposium

Employment Type: Short-Term Consultancy Contract

About the IIJ: The International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) is an organisation located in Malta with a mission to deliver innovative and sustainable capacity-building through the implementation of counter-terrorism-related, rule of law-based good practices developed by the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum (GCTF) and other international and regional fora.

Since its inauguration in 2014, the IIJ has trained more than 10,000 criminal justice practitioners through its interactive capacity-building workshops – in Malta and abroad – that enhance the competencies of judges, prosecutors, police, prison, and other criminal justice practitioners to address terrorism and related transnational criminal activities within a rule of law framework. The IIJ delivers capacity-building training tailored to the needs of the regions it serves, including East and West Africa; North Africa and the Middle East; Central and Southeast Asia. For more information on the IIJ, please visit the IIJ’s website: www.theiij.org.

Job Overview:

The IIJ is organising a three-day Judicial Symposium on the Adjudication of Terrorism-Related Offences, Including Cases Involving Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs), to be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 1–3 December 2026, in partnership with the Academy of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The symposium will bring together up to twenty criminal court judges and five instructors from the Academy’s Department of Criminal Law Disciplines and is intended to serve as a specialised component of the Academy’s advanced training programme for serving judges. It forms part of the European Union-funded project on the Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (PRR) of individuals returning from Iraq and Northeast Syria to Uzbekistan (2025–2028), jointly implemented by the IIJ, GCERF and Hedayah.

The curriculum is organised around three pillars that follow the main stages of judicial decision-making: the judicial role, rights and case management; evidence, judicial oversight and international cooperation; and judicial decisions, sentencing and post-conviction decisions. Because the participants are experienced judges, the symposium will devote most of its time to applied work rather than presentations, through a progressive fictional case study, bench-group deliberation, simulation and practical scenarios.

The Consultant will play a central role in ensuring the quality and practical relevance of the symposium by developing and contextualising its practical materials so that they reflect Uzbekistan’s legal framework, judicial powers, procedural practice and realistic terrorism-related cases, while remaining consistent with international human rights standards and fair trial guarantees. In addition to developing original scenario-based materials, the Consultant will review IIJ draft content and liaise with Academy of Justice experts as needed to ensure that all materials are accurate, coherent and aligned with the symposium’s objectives. As the materials are intended to be retained and reused by Academy instructors in subsequent trainings, they should be designed with that longer-term use in mind.

This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a high-impact initiative that supports the Uzbek judiciary in managing and adjudicating complex terrorism-related cases. Beyond developing the materials, the Consultant will travel to Tashkent to co-deliver the symposium alongside IIJ staff and Academy instructors, so that the exercises they designed are facilitated by someone with full knowledge of their content and intended learning outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

The selected Consultant will:

• Participate in preparatory calls with the Programme Manager and provide periodic updates throughout the assignment.

• Review relevant background documentation, including the symposium concept note, the indicative agenda and relevant Uzbek legal instruments, notably the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code provisions applicable to terrorism-related offences.

• Develop a progressive fictional case study, delivered to participants through a sequential “paper feed”, that requires them to make judicial decisions as the case develops across the three pillars of the curriculum, from pre-trial judicial control and evidence assessment through to sentencing and post-conviction decisions. The case study should include simulation-based decision points at which participants consider submissions, deliberate and deliver reasoned oral decisions, as well as short written orders or decision notes where appropriate.

• Develop up to three standalone practical scenarios on specific topics, such as the assessment of financial or digital evidence, the treatment of evidence obtained abroad or from conflict zones, and post-conviction decisions, each with learning objectives, discussion questions and debriefing guidance.

• Prepare facilitator notes and supporting tools for bench-group work, including structured issue lists, decision matrices and model answers, so that international experts and Academy instructors can facilitate the exercises consistently.

• Review draft IIJ training materials, including PowerPoint presentations, from a contextualisation perspective, and provide recommendations and/or tracked-change edits on a rolling basis as materials become available.

• Liaise with Academy of Justice experts as needed to ensure that contextualisation recommendations are reflected in the final materials, and that the materials are finalised in time for translation into Uzbek.

• Travel to Tashkent to co-deliver the three-day symposium, including leading or co-facilitating the case study, bench-group deliberations and practical exercises alongside Academy instructors, delivering expert input on selected sessions, and providing structured feedback to participants during debriefs.

Requirements:

• Advanced degree in law, criminal justice or a related field.

• Substantial professional experience as a judge, prosecutor or senior legal practitioner in terrorism-related or other complex criminal proceedings, or in the design and delivery of judicial training.

• Familiarity with Uzbek criminal law and procedure, including counter-terrorism legislation and the role of criminal courts at the pre-trial, trial and post-conviction stages; demonstrated expertise in a comparable legal system or jurisdiction is acceptable.

• Familiarity with the challenges that terrorism-related cases raise for courts, including those involving foreign terrorist fighters and individuals returning from conflict zones, particularly with regard to the admissibility and probative value of evidence, international judicial cooperation, fair trial guarantees, and proportionate sentencing.

• Proven experience in training design, curriculum development or capacity-building for criminal justice practitioners, preferably including experience with scenario-based or simulation-based methodologies.

• Excellent command of English (written and spoken).

• Ability to work to tight deadlines.

• Availability to travel to Tashkent for the full duration of the symposium on 1–3 December 2026, including travel days.

• Experience working with international organisations, donor-funded projects or government institutions in the security or criminal justice sectors is an asset.

• Proficiency in Russian and/or Uzbek is an asset.

• Prior collaboration with the IIJ, GCERF, Hedayah, or other relevant international partners is an asset.

How to Apply:

Interested applicants meeting the qualifications are invited to submit a resume and cover letter to the IIJ Executive Secretariat at hr@theiij.org, clearly stating “International Consultant – Uzbekistan Judicial Symposium” in the subject line.

Deadline: 13 November 2026

The IIJ is an equal-opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of all backgrounds, regardless of race, origin, disability, gender, or any other protected status.