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Legal Aid secures the discharge of Port Loko child

Legal Aid secures the discharge of Port Loko child The Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board has secured the discharge of a fourteen (14) year school boy from Port Loko. The boy was arrested on 10 August 2016 for house breaking. He was kept in police cell for twenty days before the matter was charged to court. He spent time on remand at the Prison in Port Loko before the Magistrate transferred his case to the juvenile court in Freetown on September 3. Whilst in Freetown, he was remanded at the Dems Juvenile Home in Kingtom. Lawyer for the Legal Aid Board, Joel Deen-Tarawally represented him in Court. He made an application for the matter to be discharged for want of prosecution pursuant to Section 94 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1965. He told the court that the complainant had appeared in court once despite several adjournments. He argued that it is unfair to continue to keep the offender in detention in a matter the complainant has not taken seriously. The applica

Introduction to the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board

Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board  Introduction Access to a well-funded legal aid scheme is key to the attainment of justice for the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged, though in some circumstances other categories of highly placed persons or professional may require it. Globally many countries around the world have invested in programs and interventions on providing free legal aid services to its citizens. The UN member states have thus accepted that legal aid schemes must not only be optional but should be a key component of national legal justice systems. The UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna adopted a resolution on "access to legal aid in criminal justice systems". The resolution adopts a set of "Principles and Guidelines" designed to ensure that access to legal information, advice and assistance is available to all through the provision of legal aid—thus realizing rights for the poor and marginalized and entrenching one

LAB and Office of Ombudsman sign MOU

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 wh