legalaidboard

154 members of various clique groups in the Western Area have vowed to  eschew violence before, during and after the March 2018 Elections. The commitment was made at a meeting with the Legal Aid Board in the Solidarity Hall of the Sierra Leone Labour Congress today, Friday, February 23. The meeting is part of a campaign geared towards ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections. Bloodline of Smart Farm, Blue Flag of Mountain Cut, Gaza State of Hill Cut Road, Ex-combatants of Waterloo, Central Ross of King Jimmy, Street Key of Brookfield, Member of Blood (MOB) of Back Street Brookfields and Black Street of Brookfields were among clique groups in attendance. The Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles said for a start all the clique groups should convene a meeting without any delay to transform into community based organizations. ‘If the Revolutionary United Front (RUP) can transform into a political party, the Revolutionary United

LAB urge new judge to reduce overcrowding in prisons Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles has urged the outgoing Legal Aid Manager of the Legal Aid Board, Mr. Ansumana Ivan Sesay to take advantage of the proposed Bail and Sentencing Guidelines to reduce the overcrowding in the prisons.  ‘The proposed Bail and Sentencing Guidelines are very good; we believe if it is interpreted to the letter the prison population will reduce considerably,’ she said.   Ms. Carlton-Hanciles lamented that far too many of the Board’s clients charged with minor offences like loitering and ‘mammy cuss’ are denied bail on very trivial ground and where they do it is very difficult to find sureties. She thanked Justice Sesay for the exemplary leadership while serving the Board. ‘We will miss your humility, energy and passion to seek justice for accused persons,’ she said. ‘Be assured the Board lawyers you have trained will continue in your footsteps.’  Mr. An

LAB to train partners on Bail and Sentencing Guidelines The Legal Aid Board and partners in the Western Area will converge on the British Council for a two-day training workshop on the proposed Bail and Sentencing Guidelines on the 11 and 12 July 2017. The seventy participants for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded workshop will be drawn from the Council of Tribal Headmen, legal aid service providers, human rights organizations, Sierra Leone Labour Congress, Sierra Leone Motor Drivers Union, Sierra Leone Traders Council, civil society organizations and the Inter-religious Council of Sierra Leone. The Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Claire Carlton-Hanciles has welcomed the proposed Bail and Sentencing Guidelines in changing perceptions about the judiciary which is seen as unfair and punitive. She described the workshop as an opportunity for partners of the Board to be educated on the proposed Bail and Sentencing Guidelines so as to understand ho

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

LAB calls on stakeholders in the East to invest in the Bureaus.                  The Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles has called on the stakeholders in Wellington and Calaba Town in the East of the capital Freetown to do more to support the Community Advisory Bureaus (CAB) in their respective Wards if they should become relevant to the people. The call follows a joint assessment of the fifteen Bureaus in the capital Freetown by the Public Relations and the Outreach and Community Affairs Departments. The report shows that nine of the fifteen Bureaus are performing below expectations in terms of addressing the justice needs of the community. The reports notes that the Bureaus in Wards  391, 393 and 394 covering Pipeline, Thompson Bay, UN Drive, Scan Drive, Caningo, Sheriff Drive, Wilkinson Road and Grassfield in Lumley in the West and Wards 346 in Calaba Town, 355 in Wellington and 356 in Kuntolor in the East of the capital are perf

LAB calls for support to Advisory Bureaus The Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles has called for urgent support to the newly established Citizens Advisory Bureaus in Freetown. The Board has opened fifteen Bureaus since February 2017, all in the capital Freetown. This will continue until they are established in all the 394 Wards in the country.  Ms. Carlton-Hanciles warned that the Bureaus could struggle to create maximum impact if people do not contribute to their upkeep and sustenance.  She encouraged members of the public to copy the example of a staff of the Office of National Security (ONS) who donated money to the Bureau in Ward 393 in Grassfield, Lumley. ‘People should take ownership of the Bureaus because they belong to them, the Board is only the architect,’ she said. ‘The reception has been very positive, but this is not being translated into support needed to keep the Bureaus up and running. The Bureaus need stationery,