Sierra Leone: Access to Justice

Background

Sierra Leone’s official legal system is of limited practical relevance for most people in the country. Even though the country’s common law system (consisting of statutory as well as decisional law) is nominally supreme under Sierra Leone's Constitution, courts operate only in the main cities—Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Port Loko, and Makeni. The great majority of Sierra Leone’s lawyers work only in these few areas.

Almost everywhere else in Sierra Leone, criminal behavior and dispute resolution are regulated by customary law, using informal and traditional mechanisms. Unfortunately, customary law and procedures fail, in many cases, to accord with either Sierra Leone’s Constitution or the international human rights treaties to which the country is committed. Discrimination against women and bias on the basis of social status are particularly rampant. A major challenge is to reform customary law and procedures, not supplant them.

Another concern is access to the common law system, not only in rural areas of Sierra Leone, but even where courts are functioning. Few Sierra Leoneans can afford lawyers, and the country’s only legal services organization, the Lawyers Center for Legal Assistance (LAWCLA, a member of the National Forum for Human Rights, the Justice Initiative’s partner in this project), serves only Freetown and Makeni. Many criminal defendants go entirely unrepresented. Civil litigants know little about their rights, putting those who cannot afford representation at an often decisive disadvantage.

Under circumstances in which many Sierra Leoneans can neither assert nor defend their legal rights in criminal or civil matters, either in common law or traditional forums, the constitutional promise of human rights, the rule of law, and equal access to justice (regardless of “economic or other disability”) remains unfulfilled. With the civil war over and political stability in view, the time is ripe to address these problems.

Objectives

Working in close collaboration with a coalition of Sierra Leonean NGOs, the Justice Initiative has launched a pilot project, lasting just over a year, to improve access to justice outside the major cities in Sierra Leone. The project aims to enhance access to the country’s common law courts and increase the potential for asserting fundamental human rights in informal and traditional settings, including in the “local courts” run by traditional chiefs (as guaranteed by Chapter 3 of Sierra Leone’s Constitution and the international instruments ratified or acceded to by Sierra Leone).

The project is one component of what must be a multi-faceted and long-term effort to help rural Sierra Leoneans know, assert and vindicate their rights.

Activities

The project is coordinated by the secretariat of the National Forum for Human Rights (NFHR), a coalition of Sierra Leonean NGOs based in Freetown. Beginning in autumn 2003, individuals from five rural communities are being trained and employed as “advice officers”. Their role is to help others access common law courts and traditional dispute resolution mechanisms. Beneficiaries include those engaged in civil disputes, including over land and other forms of property; detained indigent persons; and victims of crime. The advice officers’ work includes advocating for the interpretation and/or development of customary or common law toward greater compliance with international and constitutional human rights standards. The advice officers’ day-to-day tasks will be determined by local needs identified during the planning and deployment stages of the project.

A project coordinator will supervise and evaluate the advice officers in the field. The advice officers will be nominated by their communities through a Community Advisory Board, which will monitor their work and ensure local accountability. A Project Advisory Board consisting of a coalition of NGOs active in human rights and legal services will advise the project coordinator. At the outset, these NGOs will assist the NFHR and the Justice Initiative in hiring the project coordinator, selecting host communities, and training advice officers.

An important part of the project will be the development of a reference manual explaining the substantive and procedural aspects of common law on subjects of concern to ordinary citizens. The manual will cover areas such as landlord/tenant law, property law and family law, and will serve as a reference for advice officers when they encounter issues requiring an acquaintance with formal law and institutions. Different chapters will be written and taught by lawyers specializing in the relevant areas. The manual will be made publicly available as a resource for popular legal education and legal assistance projects.

Partner

National Forum for Human Rights (NFHR), Sierra Leone

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