LAB and Office of Ombudsman sign
MOU
The Legal
Aid Board and the Office of the Ombudsman have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding which formalizes the relationship between the two institutions
with the aim of addressing the justice needs of people.
The signing
took place in the morning in the conference room of the Office of the Attorney
General and Ministry of Justice on Wednesday, 28 June 2018 in the presence of
journalists and staff of both institutions.
The MOU
will see one institution refer complaints to the other based on their
respective mandate. This means the
Office of the Ombudsman will refer complaints which fall within the mandate of
Legal Aid Board. The Board in turn will do the same for complaints which fall
under the Office of the Ombudsman.
In his
statement prior to signing the MOU, the new Ombudsman, Lawyer Melron Nilcol-Wilson
said his Office has complaints which fall within the mandate of the Legal Aid
Board. He noted that in the past,
complaints which do not fall under the remit of the Office of the Ombudsman are
discarded.
Lawyer
Nilcol-Wilson had warm words for the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board,
Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles and the work of the Board. ‘This MOU will
promote justice and good governance in Sierra Leone,’ he said.
Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms.
Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles expressed delight at the partnership. She
praised the new Ombudsman for being the brain behind legal aid provision
following the setting up of the first legal aid organization in the country,
the Lawyers Center for Legal Assistance (LAWCLA). ‘You started it all,’ she
said, adding: ‘If we are benefiting from the scheme today, we need to look
back.’
She noted
that prior to the appointment of the Ombudsman, the Office had a lot of
complaints which were not attended to because the then Ombudsman was busy with
the Constitutional Review Committee which he served as chair.
Ms.
Carlton-Hanciles said a lot of work has gone into making the Board a household
name in the country. He added that hundreds visit Legal Aid Board offices
around the country to access services. ‘The complaints we handle include
referrals from our partners around the country.’
She
disclosed that the Board has been holding on to matters which will now be
referred to the Office of the Ombudsman.
She noted
that in other countries, the Office of the Ombudsman is referred to as the
Public Defender which combines the functions of the Office of the Ombudsman and
the legal aid Board.
Ms.
Carlton-Hanciles said the Board will be happy to work with the Office of the
Ombudsman to conduct joint outreach activities. ‘We have staff in all the
fourteen districts and have offices in ten locations in the country,’ she said.
She encouraged the Ombudsman to ensure his office join the District and
Provincial Security Committees. ‘This is a forum where peace time issues are
discussed,’ she said.
The
chairperson for the ceremony, Legal Aid Manager, Lawyer Ansumana Ivan Sesay
described the signing as an important milestone in broadening the frontiers of
access to justice.
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