Terms of reference for a consultancy to draft the IPU Handbook entitled: Freedom of expression: what does it mean for parliamentarians? (Provisional title)

A.      Background

Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy society and of parliamentary work. Democracy cannot be realized without a free flow of ideas and information, and the possibility for people to gather, to voice and discuss ideas, criticize and make demands and defend their interests and rights. Respect for their right to freedom of expression is essential if parliamentarians are to carry out effectively the mandate entrusted to them. 

The proposed handbook aims to address the scope of freedom of expression and its special significance for parliamentarians and parliamentary work.  It would underscore the importance of safeguarding freedom of expression in today’s world and hence of ensuring that parliamentarians and others can speak their minds freely without fear of reprisals. The handbook would underscore that freedom of expression is not absolute but that the restrictions, as permitted under international law, have to be clearly and narrowly defined in national law. 

The IPU is looking for a consultant to draft the handbook.

B.      Objectives

In addressing issues related to freedom of expression, the publication of the handbook would aim to achieve the following:

• to familiarize parliamentarians across the world with international and regional human rights norms and mechanisms regarding freedom of expression and their application to and implications for parliamentary work;

• to empower parliamentarians - through the presentation of examples of good practices and checklists - to engage and take action to promote and protect freedom of expression;

• to convey a strong message to parliaments that the protection of freedom of expression is more relevant than ever before, while acknowledging all the same the challenges that the exercise of this right poses, including in relation to new emerging trends/challenges;

• to promote further debate and reflection on the issues surrounding freedom of expression and their significance for parliamentarians;

• to inform parliamentarians about the jurisprudence of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians[1] inasmuch as it relates to the exercise of freedom of expression, and hence give visibility to and promote better understanding of the Committee’s work;

• to promote better understanding among members of the IPU, including members of the Committee and IPU staff about the scope of the right of freedom of expression and relevant international, regional and national norms and standards;

• to enable the IPU to offer high-quality advice and suggestions to parliaments whenever the IPU Committee or another IPU entity finds that specific national legislation and/or practices unduly limit freedom of expression.

C.      Proposed structure of the handbook

It is proposed that the handbook would include the following sections (the consultant will produce, in consultation with the IPU, the final structure of the handbook):

(i)       General introduction:

• The importance of respect for freedom of expression in a democratic society, including a free, diversified and professional press;
• Limits to freedom of expression; 
• The interplay between the press, social media, politicians and ordinary citizens and the opportunities and challenges that each of these stakeholders present for a free flow of information and ideas;
• The importance of access to information laws;
• Freedom of expression at a time of increased polarisation on political, cultural, religious and ethnic grounds;
• The challenges posed by broad, vague and overreaching legislation aimed to counter terrorism and/or safeguard national security, social cohesion and harmony.

(ii)      Presentation of the international and regional norms and mechanisms on freedom of expression:

• Elaboration of the scope of Article 19 of the ICCPR and UDHR, General Comment 34 and relevant jurisprudence of UN Human Rights Committee and reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression.  This chapter will also look at the important standard-setting and implementation on freedom of expression through the regional human rights systems in Europe, the Americas and Africa. Likewise, the chapter will include an introduction to the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and its work on freedom of expression.

(iii)     A parliamentary perspective to freedom of expression:

This chapter would start by stating that freedom of expression is an indispensable tool for parliamentarians to denounce abuses and promote accountability, but also that parliamentarians carry an additional responsibility to use it properly as their words, more than those of ordinary citizens, are likely to have consequences.

This chapter will refer to relevant jurisprudence of the aforesaid IPU Committee and should deal with issues such as:

• Parliamentary immunity (non-accountability);
• The space offered to parliamentarians, in particular from the opposition, to voice their views and concerns in and outside parliament;
• The importance of allowing MPs to freely criticize other public figures, including the Head of State, and their policies;
• Legitimate ways of dealing with offensive or disruptive behaviour of MPs in parliament;
• The tension between the free parliamentary mandate and the power of political parties over their MPs;
• The scope for MPs to question sensitive issues of national interest;
• MPs (and/or their parties) resorting to defamation, hate speech and/or incitement to violence and how to handle it in Parliament and outside Parliament; 
• The responsibility of parliamentarians to ensure that international and regional standards and recommendations in support of freedom of expression are implemented and incorporated into national law; this should also include legislative action to guarantee a free press and protect human rights defenders and whistle blowers);
• MPs’ portrayal in the press and social media: the wider limits of permissible speech to which MPs, as public figures, are subjected;
• The “love-and-hate” relationship between MPs and the media and how to promote mutual respect and understanding;

(iv)     Conclusions

The conclusions would underscore the importance of safeguarding freedom of expression in today’s world and hence of ensuring that parliamentarians and others can speak their minds freely without fear of reprisals. The conclusions would underscore that freedom of expression is not absolute but that the restrictions, as permitted under international law, have to be clearly and narrowly defined in national law.  The handbook would end by stating that parliaments and their members have a critical role to play in establishing the legal framework in which freedom of expression can flourish in their countries.

D.      Publication

The handbook should contain between 70 to 80 pages (without annexes).  The handbook is expected to be produced as a print publication in English, French and Spanish and possibly other languages, and also as a “digitally native” online publication that is easy to access, visualize and share. The content, language and format of the handbook should be appropriate to the needs of the intended target audiences.

The primary target audience for the handbook would be members of parliament as well as parliamentary staff. The handbook would also be a valuable resource for other human rights stakeholders, in particular those interacting with parliaments, such as government officials, the media (including social media) and civil society.

The handbook is part of a series of IPU handbooks which address a wide arrange of topics of parliamentary interest. The handbook is therefore expected to share their characteristics such as a focus on concrete examples of good parliamentary practices (for instance in the area of legislation), examples of important national, regional and international jurisprudence and concrete recommendations for parliamentary action.  The style of the handbook should be clear and concise. More information on the IPU handbooks can be found at: https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/handbooks

E.      Tasks

The consultant will be in charge of drafting the handbook, working in close collaboration with the IPU Secretariat which will provide feedback throughout the planning, research and drafting phases.

-         Timing

The contract will run from 15 February to 5 August 2018.

-         Deliverables

As part of the contract, the consultant will provide the following deliverables:

25 February 2018 (three days’ work)

• Presentation of the structure for the handbook
• Identification and presentation of main resource materials for drafting;

15 March 2018

• IPU provides feedback on structure and proposed resource materials

30 March 2018 (one days’ work)

• Presentation of the final structure and resource materials in light of IPU feedback

30 April 2018 (15 days’ work)

• Collection and presentation of good parliamentary practices and relevant examples of jurisprudence for each of the chapters (where relevant);
• Presentation of first two chapters

10 May 2018

• IPU provides feedback on good parliamentary examples and first two chapters

15 May 2018 (two days’ work)

• Presentation of revised list of good parliamentary examples and first two chapters in light of IPU comments

15 June 2018 (15 days’ work)

• Presentation of remaining chapters

30 June 2018

• IPU provides feedback on remaining chapters

10 July 2018 (two days’ work)

• Presentation of revised remaining chapters in light of IPU feedback

20-31 July 2018 (two days’ work)

Final review by consultant and the IPU Secretariat of the text

The IPU will subsequently take care of editing, lay-out, proof-reading, translation and printing.The aim is to launch the handbook, at least the English and French version, at the 139^th IPU Assembly (Geneva, October 2018), or otherwise before the end of 2018.

-         Remuneration and total days

The total amount of work on the publication is estimated at 40 days of work to be carried out over a period of 4 ½ months. The days of work indicated in the timeline under “deliverables” are estimates; it may well be that some of the deliverables may take slightly less or more time.  Remuneration will be calculated on the basis of CHF 400 per day of work. Based on the time-line the remuneration will amount to CHF 16,000. Under no circumstances will be remuneration amount to more than CHF 18’000.

The consultant will submit an invoice at the end of each month indicating the number of days worked.

-         Requirements

Candidates for the consultancy need to be able to demonstrate:

• Deep knowledge of issues related to freedom of expression, in particular by having written publications on this topic;
• Excellent research, analytical and planning skills;
• Familiarity with how parliaments and their members function and how freedom of expression affects them is highly desirable;
• Ability to write clearly and concisely in English for print and online publications;
• Ability to read other languages is highly desirable.