Public invitation to domestic and international law firms to submit bids for advocacy of Montenegro in arbitral procedure against dr Duško Knežević

PUBLIC INVITATION TO DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS TO SUBMIT BIDS FOR ADVOCACY OF MONTENEGRO IN ARBITRAL PROCEDURE

AGAINST DR. DUŠKO KNEŽEVIĆ, ATLAS CAPITAL HOLDING LIMITED AND MELJINE COMPLEX LIMITED

Dr. Duško Knežević, Atlas Capital Holding Limited and Meljine Complex Limited have submitted the Notice for Arbitration against Montenegro, under Article 9 of the Agreement between Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Cyprus on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments, and in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (“UNCITRAL Rules”).

The Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare invites all concerned domestic and international law firms, with experience in representing States in ad hoc arbitral procedures under the UNCITRAL Rules, to submit a bid with a specification of prices of services, individually in stages, for advocacy of Montenegro in arbitral procedure against Dr. Duško Knežević, Atlas Capital Holding Limited and Meljine Complex Limited.

The law firm shall offer legal advice and legal assistance concerning Arbitral procedure, i.e. the following services:

       i. making of legal analysis of the case – overview and legal analysis of documentation concerning the Arbitral procedure;

      ii. drafting and submitting of pleadings for the purpose of running the Arbitral procedure;

     iii. making of pleadings in relation to appointment of arbiter, i.e. in relation with forming of court in the Arbitral procedure;

    iv. consultations with clients at hearings concerning the issues of significance to running the Arbitral procedure;

      v. advocacy of clients at hearings within the Arbitral procedure, if required;

    vi. other legal services in relation with the Arbitral procedure.

Qualification (obligatory) terms which are subject of scoring:

- Previous experience in representing States in ad hoc arbitral procedures under UNCITRAL Rules;

- Previous experience in ad hoc arbitral procedures under UNCITRAL Rules, by at least 3 members of the law firm that would offer services in the Arbitral procedure.

The offer shall specifically encompass the following elements:

- Names and biographies of the team’s proposed members;

- Structure and references of lawyers that would offer services in accordance with the arbitral procedure;

- Candidate’s profile, details on experience and similar engagements, including information and detailed description of the role of the attorney within the similar affairs (especially within the ad hoc arbitral procedures under UNCITRAL Rules);

- Evidence that at least one lawyer or advisor is actively using the local language;

- Declaration on non-existence of conflict of interest, in written form;

- Declaration on lawyer’s availability until the closing of the procedure, in written form;

- Financial offer.

The financial offer shall separately contain the following elements:

- Price per hour for every individual (lawyer, partner, advisor, associate and/or employee that would be engaged within the arbitral procedure);

- Additional fees for lawyers’ services that might be offered during the procedure;

- Monthly fee that would be charged for counselling via e-mail or phone concerning day-to-day issues, and

- Fee for other eventual expenses, if any, such as legal investigations, copies, etc.

- Costs Estimate for each Phase of Proceedings;

Election of the attorney will be done in accordance with the following criteria:

· Qualification (obligatory) terms ......................................................70 points,

· Financial offer …….........................................................................30 points.

Deadline for submitting offers is March 30^th 2021, at 15:00 (local time).

Qualification and financial offers are to be submitted in 2 separate envelopes. The bids are to be submitted in written or electronic form in Montenegrin and English, in three copies in closed envelope, with clearly written designation: “Bid for election of legal representative for advocacy of Montenegro in arbitral procedure against Dr. Duško Knežević, Atlas Capital Holding Limited and Meljine Complex Limited “ to the following address:

Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare of Montenegro, 2 Stanka Dragojevica St, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro and e-mail: aleksandra.popovic@mif.gov.me.

Law on Public Procurements is not applied to procurements of services of arbitrage (article14, paragraph 1, line 4 and 5a).