By: Aaron Bundu Lahai-Head of Media & Public Relations
The Honourable Vice President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has emphasized the need for legal reforms in Sierra Leone. Vice President Jalloh stated that despite huge progress made in the Judiciary, it is evident that the justice system continues to face challenges limiting it capacity to dispense justice.
The Vice President informed about the ongoing legal and constitutional reforms which are parts of Government of Sierra Leone effort to consolidate the rule of law which is vital for the building of democratic State. He reechoed the relevance of the legal profession to the ongoing reform process, since the legal profession constitutes main players in the restoration and sustenance of hope in the delivery of justice. The legal profession should be in the capacity to dispense justice as well as ensure Sierra Leoneans access justice, he maintained; “in whatever position or particular level the legal professionals find themselves in the justice spectrum, your contribution to strengthen the rule of law is vital” he said.
Vice President Jalloh encouraged the Sierra Leone Bar Association to deepen their engagement with the Government of Sierra Leone in order to deliver justice, strengthen the rule of law, and consolidate the country’s democracy. The Honourable Vice President expressed satisfaction with the work of the Association over the years and recently to support Government in legal reforms in cyber security, death penalty and the New York Convention.
He called on the Bar Association to build on the relationship with Government and begin a form of engagement. He proposed an institutionalized form of engagement that goes beyond adhoc support to legal reforms. Vice President Jalloh recommended for a permanent institutionalized dialogue framework between the Association and the Government of Sierra Leone. He encouraged the Lawyers to utilize the space for frank discussion on ways to support the dispensation of justice and the accessibility of justice by ordinary Sierra Leoneans.
“The Bar Association has been part of the return to multi-party rule in the early 90s in Sierra Leone, because the Bar believes the only way to renew the State was to democratize it” Vice President Jalloh explained. He recalled attending the Bar’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the British Council Hall in Freetown uninvited as a fresher student then of the Fourah Bay College with late Lawyer Jenkins Johnson as President of the Bar whilst Dr. Abdulai O. Conteh was then Minister of Justice, furthering that the inclusion of the “return to multi-party democracy” on the agenda of the Lawyers during one party rule was a novelty.
Vice President Jalloh observed that the theme for the 2021 Annual Conference of the Bar resonates with the popular expectation to consolidate the nascent democracy, rule of law, and solid foundation to sustainable development. He referred to the legal profession as one that is vital to restore hope in government effort to strengthen and consolidate the rule of law and democracy.
He called for the decentralization of the justice delivery system by encouraging young lawyers to start their careers in the provinces, this is to ensure that the young lawyers learn and support local communities and Magistrates in justice dispensation. He pledged Government commitment to support in that direction, since decentralization is key to justice sector nationwide.
The Vice President concluded by encouraging the lawyers to work together and move from the narrow mercantile perception of the noble law profession to one that is vital for the building of a social and political order that is capable of delivery development in Sierra Leone. “No country will prosper without a stable political and social order rooted in the rule of law, and the legal profession is key to that process” he maintained. The Vice President delivered the address at the 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Sierra Leone Bar Association at the Wizzard Hotel in Bo on Thursday 10th February, 2022.
