Speech by the Executive Director of LAB on the launch of the ‘Scaling Up Access to Justice Leaving No One Behind’ on Thursday, 8 September 2016.
I am humbled to host you this morning as we mark a milestone in the operations of the Legal Aid Board. It has been a long and arduous journey. Some of you here present including the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Hon. Joseph Kamara have invested in this journey. I believe you will be very proud at what we have achieved together.
When we started operations in May 2015, we were in no illusion about the expectations the scheme will invoke among the poor and vulnerable who are usually disadvantaged in access justice because they do not understand how the formal court system works and more importantly because they cannot afford a lawyer. What we were least prepared for, was the level of expectation among those who are well off and therefore can afford to hire a lawyer.
I remember distinctly our first engagements with Members of Parliament in June 2015. The meeting was meant to explain our mandate and operations and lobby for support to the scheme especially in the area of resource allocation. The meeting ended up being dominated by calls for the scheme to establish a presence upcountry without any delay. The Leader of the House, Hon. Ibrahim Bundu captured the mood among Parliamentarians when he confessed to being overwhelmed with request for financial assistance from his constituents for matters they have in the courts. A female PM, Gladys Gbapy-Brima argued that in the face of limited resources at the disposal of the Board, it should give priority to women because they make up the majority of the poor and vulnerable in society.
I also recall how our meetings with civil society, justice sector institutions and other groups to discuss the draft Legal Aid Guide and the Board’s Strategic Plan in June and August 2015 were dominated by the requirement for qualification for legal aid commonly called ‘Means Test’. The view among civil society is that, the income threshold of five undred Thousand Leones - which is the country’s minimum wage - or below will leave many deserving poor people out.
The presence of the Board also created some unease among partner organizations involved in the provision of legal aid. There were those who felt threatened that the Board will put them out of job.
In less than one year six months of existence, we have made some modest achievements in addressing these issues. I am heartened our biggest achievement has been the impact we have had on ordinary people who before now have no institution to turn to. These days, when people are faced with a situation wherein their rights are about to be violated, they threaten to call in the Legal Aid Board. This has worked for many. Those who have reported such matters to us, we have intervened to ensure their rights are respected.
As recent as last week, we intervened in a matter at the Central Police in Freetown where a suspect, Alie Mohamed Conteh was kept in detention for six days for allegedly stealing a motorcycle even though the complainant had not made a statement in respect of the matter.
In little over a year since our first meeting with Members of Parliament, we now have offices in six district headquarters towns upcountry. I want to take this opportunity to thank the local authorities in Port Loko, Moyamba and Kono Districts for assisting the Board with securing office space. The deployment of staff in these offices started in August 2015. I am happy to let you know that the launch is coinciding with the deployment of six lawyers upcountry. The Lawyers will provide representation in all the seventeen Magistrate and 3 High Courts upcountry. Each lawyer will be covering the courts in two districts. Let me just share this bit of good news with you, our lawyer in Kono secured nine discharges from the Magistrate Court in a single day on Monday.
Before August 2016, our operations were limited to the Western Area and more than ninety percent of our beneficiaries in the formal courts have come from the Correctional Centers and Remand Home in Freetown. Since May 2015, we have provided legal assistance to four thousand two hundred and fifty-two (4,252) indigents mostly remand inmates. This includes three hundred and twenty-eight (328) juveniles. I must note that, we provide legal assistance to all children in remand homes without any pre-condition.
We introduced the Alternative Dispute Resolution programme in March 2016 and this has expanded our reach dramatically. The programme mediate matters including those in the formal and informal courts. So far, we have been able to mediate over 500 cases.
Our relationship with partners in civil society continues to grow from strength to strength. We had our first meeting with our proposed ‘Trusted Partners’ in civil society in the Sierra Leone Labour Congress Conference Hall last week. Representatives of thirty civil organizations including Ordehlay Union, Ojeh Council, Central One Football Association (COFA), Traditional Healers and Ataya Base Union were in attendance.
As part of the ‘Scaling Up Access to Justice Leaving No One Behind’ campaign, the Board will train the Trusted Partners as Paralegals and Mediators to enable them mediate matters of a non-criminal nature in their respective organizations and also do legal education.
We will set up Community Advisory Bureaus in Wards around the country. The Bureaus will be non-political and non-profit and will be run on a voluntary basis. They will be located in every Ward in the country and will work to promote access to justice and the mandate of the Legal Aid Board. They will be the first port of call for members of the community who have law and order issues and minor disputes. The Bureaus will have an Alternative Dispute Resolution component which will be responsible for mediating matters that are not of a criminal nature such as family, maintenance and land issues, evictions, debts and community level problems. They will refer cases which do not fall within their remit to the Local Courts, Police, Ministries of Lands, Labour and Social Welfare and relevant Institutions and organizations as the case may be.
The Bureaus will undertake legal education on the mandate of the Board, Rule of Law, Local Court Act 2011 and human rights. They will also be involved in advocacy.
The campaign will include the implementation of the ‘Child Protection under the Law’ programme to assist with enforcing the rights of children especially those relating to the Child Rights Acts and the Sexual Offences Act. Issues of early marriage, teenage pregnancy and domestic violence will be a priority for the programme.
We have deployed five Paralegals upcountry. This has increased our visibility and improved our partnership with justice sector institutions. Our paralegals pay regular visits to police stations, correctional centers and the informal courts to ensure their modus operandi are consistent with national laws and human rights standards. We will increase in folds the number of Paralegals in the cause of the campaign. Our engagements with Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) has been very fruitful as the organization will be assisting the Board with funding the recruitment of thirty-five (35) paralegals.
We have stepped up legal education upcountry through community and radio outreach. Our staff have organized several community outreach events in the regional headquarter towns. They also participate in regular phone-in progarmmes on community radios. This is having a positive impact on the way people in conflict with the law are treated by the police. We will broaden the reach of our outreach by going into chiefdoms outside the regional headquarter towns.
Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen this campaign is for all of us to invest in. Those who say, it is for the Legal Aid Board and its partners are doing a disservice to the peace and security of the country we all cherished. I would therefore take this opportunity to welcome you on Board.
I thank you for your attention.
By: Joseph Dumbuya
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