Skip to main content

The Executive Director, Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone, Mrs. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles, has held a very meaningful meeting with the Council of Tribal Heads in Sierra Leone.



The Executive Director, Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone, Mrs. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles, has held a very meaningful meeting with the Council of Tribal Heads in Sierra Leone. She noted that justice was not prevalent at the lower class in Sierra Leone and pointed out that most of the witnesses do not appear in the courts when cases are called. That, she said, has kept a lot of innocent people in jails without trial, thereby destroying their lives.

The meeting witnessed the processing of seven youths released from different courts in Freetown. Six youths who were held for different crimes, ranging from wounding to larceny, were released at the High Court by Justice Sam Margai. Five were released on an application for a discharge for want of prosecution by Legal Aid Lawyers, Cecelia Tucker and Contract Lawyer who applied for the sixth one. A seventh was released by Justice Samba on an application for a discharge for want of prosecution made by Legal Aid Lawyer, Cheryl Blake.   

Tribal Heads advised the seven released youths who were of the different tribes, to be sober minded. They observed that four of the released youths were charged with wounding, an observation which called for concern. On the issue of the Lawyer-Tribal Head relationship, Chief Matthew Younge said that Lawyers do not recognize them as partners in the Justice system in the area of Local Justice Dispensation. They called on the Legal Aid Board to bridge the gap between the two parties for the improvement of the justice system in Sierra Leone. The tribal heads commended the Legal Aid boss for the achievements the Board has made in the last four months, and pledged their total support for the work of the Board.



By: Derek Nat-George


Date: 15-02-16

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Legal Aid partners adopt Bye-Laws for Citizens Advisory Bureau

Members of the Citizens Advisory Bureau Working Committee have adopted the Bye-Laws for the soon-to-established Citizens Advisory Bureau (CAB) at a meeting at the AFRICELL Office on Bathurst Street in Freetown on Tuesday. The Committee was put together at a stakeholders’ workshop on June 9 at the Atlantic Hall of the National Stadium Hostels to educate and discuss ideas about the Bureau which will offer Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation and Referral services in the community.  The meeting was convened under the auspices of the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board. It attracted twelve Tribal Headmen from the Western Area, Councilors from the Western Area Urban and Rural District Councils and representatives of the Sierra Leone Police, the Sierra Leone Correctional Service, National Youth Commission and civil society groups. The Consultant for the meeting, Madam Memunata Pratt from the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, Fourah Bay College led the discussions on t...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 ...
1 comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more