5 August 2015
Supreme Court Judge, Justice
Nicholas Brown-Marke declared open a one-day
ASJP-funded Strategic Planning
Workshop of the Legal Aid Board by
underlining the importance of sound planning in ensuring success for any organization.
Justice Brown-Marke in his
capacity as Chair of the workshop which was hosted at the Cube Restaurant, Maritime House on Wednesday,
August 5
drew attention to the impending launch of the Legal Aid Board and
alluded to the high expectations among
the public regarding benefits they hope to derive from the organization.
‘People expect things to happen immediately’ he cautioned. ‘But this will take time because Lawyers and
Paralegals will be involved and a lot of planning will go into deploying them.
The honorable Judge noted that
most people think the legal system is only concerned with judgment. ‘People are concern with the results but
there are a lot of other things that go into it’ he said. He noted delays in the delivery of justice
start right from the outset. He agreed that there are a lot of people on remand
but noted these things are bound to happen when the resources are inadequate.
He called on participants to use
the opportunity provided by the workshop to help the Legal Aid Board plan
properly. He noted that their inputs will go a long way into alleviating the
problems confronting the justice system.
The Chair of the Legal Aid Board,
Justice Adeliza Showers reminded participants that the Legal Aid Board is new
and therefore appropriate to have a workshop of this nature. She underlined the
fact that the organization is independent and will ensure poor people who
cannot afford to pay for legal services benefit from it. She noted that the
organization will have to work speedily to establish a presence across the
country.
The representative of Access to
Security and Justice Programme (ASJP), Dr. Ibrahim Bangura said his agency is
impressed with the amount of work that has gone into having the organization up
and running. He noted that his agency is committed to supporting access to justice.
He said the Strategic Plan is the beginning of a process which is expected to
peak with time. ‘We will engage in consultations with the Legal Aid Board to
ensure it succeeds. We are here with you and we will remain with you until the
process is completed. This is no business as usual’ he told participants. Among future support for the organization, he
noted that his agency will support a baseline survey of legal aid providers.
In her presentation, The
Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Claire Carlton-Hanciles noted
that organizations providing legal aid operate in clusters as such parts of the
country are left out. She said her organization will ensure this situation is
addressed. She disclosed that her
organization will be signing a partnership agreement with the Sierra Leone
Association of Journalists (SLAJ), which she noted will strengthen public
education for the organization. In addition, they will be working closely with
juvenile serving organizations to ensure they benefit from her organization.
The workshop was climaxed with
presentations on ‘Developing the Strategic Plan Framework’ and ‘Strategic Plan
Implementation Schedule’ by Ms. Memunata Pratt Head of Department of Peace and
Conflict Studies, Fourah
Bay College
The discussion on the Draft
Strategy Plan by participants also formed the highpoint of the workshop. This
includes the number of offices across the country, vehicles, in-house lawyers
and paralegals the organization should have in two and five years. One group
suggested that the organization should have offices in all the regional
headquarter towns in two years. In five years, it should have offices in the
fourteen district headquarter towns.
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