Legal Aid meet with Trusted Partners
to increase access to justice
The Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board had
its first meeting with proposed Trusted Partners in civil society in the
conference hall of the Sierra Leone Labour Congress on Tuesday, August 30.
The Executive Director of the Legal
Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles told representatives of thirty
civil organizations including Ordehlay Union, Ojeh Council, Central One Football
Association (COFA), Traditional Healers and Ataya Base Union that they will be
empowered to increase access to justice to members of their respective
organizations as part of the campaign ‘Scaling Up Access to Justice Leaving No
One Behind’.
‘This will reduce the pressure on the
police and the courts,’ she said. ‘We will invite all the proposed Trusted
Partners including those of you here to a meeting in the coming weeks to
sensitize you on what ‘Trusted Partners in Law and Order’ means and what we
expect of you.’
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles added that Trusted
Partners will ensure the Rule of Law obtains in the various organizations by
settling matters of non-criminal nature. ‘We will buil
d the capacity of all our Trusted Partners by training them as Paralegals and Mediators,’ she said.
Speaking on challenges confronting
access to justice, Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said the courts are clogged up with
minor non-criminal offences. She observed that there have cases where complainants
lie to the police in their statements to lend weight to their case and deceive
the police with charging suspects with a criminal offence.
She noted that some of the charges
are inconsistent with the crimes committed. ‘We have debtors been charged with obtaining
money by false pretense even though they have paid part of the money they owe,’
she said. ‘Also, some are charged with robbery with aggravation even though no
weapon was used in the commission of the crime.’
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said many people
take matters to the police because they do not have an option. ‘The legal Aid
Board is providing the option which was absent in the past so that you would not
have to go to the police for minor cases,’ she said. ‘The IG is ready to instruct police officers
to transfer cases that are not of a criminal nature to the Legal Aid Board.’
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles informed her
audience that the Legal Aid Board will be opening Citizens Advisory Bureaus in
Wards across the country. She said that the Board will train, advice and assist
the Bureaus with raising funds.
Mr. Muctarr Williams of Sierra Leone
Labour Congress lamented the challenges poor people face in accessing justice
and the fact that as a nation we have not learned from the lessons of the
decade-long conflict. ‘We were fed up with the legal system because it did not
serve the interest of the poor,’ he said. ‘We had a situation in which the poor
are on the losing side. We are happy
things are beginning to change with the advent of the Legal Aid Board.’
Mr. Williams criticized some lawyers
for not treating their clients fairly. ‘Some of these lawyers do not have time
to read their casefile that is why they ask for adjournment all the time, but
Legal Aid Board is now putting a stop to this because their lawyers do not
adjourn cases necessarily.’
The Chairman of the Council of Tribal
Headmen in the Western Area, S.O. Gbekie lauded the Legal Aid Board for
restoring the dignity of the Council. He lamented how Lawyers had been trying
to undermine their authority by interfering in matters brought to them by their
tribespeople. He welcomed the idea of training members of the Council as
paralegals and mediators.
The Secretary General of the Ordehlay
Union, Sulaiman Suntus Kamara spoke on the issue of injustice which he noted is
pervasive in society. He called for an end to the ‘legalization of illegality’
and for the government to address issues of illiteracy and drug abuse
especially.
The President of the Petty Traders
Association, Alhaji Bureh Kamara drew attention to the high number of traders
arrested and jailed for very minor offences some of which they did not commit.
The President of the Motor Drivers Union, Mr. Bah said more than 120 members of
the Union have so far benefited from the Legal Aid Board. He thanked the Board
for uniting them with the Petty Traders Association.
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