By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone
The Judiciary of Sierra Leone has officially launched a compendium to enable judges to preside over electoral malpractices before, during and after March 7, 2018 elections in an effort to supporting free, fair and credible elections in the country.
The National Electoral Commission had reported that they are investigating over 1,000 people they suspected to have involved in electoral malpractices during the registration process for the 2018 elections. The Commission pleaded with the judiciary to set up special electoral offences court to be trying people involved in electoral malpractice.
Speaking recently at the well-attended launching by the Supreme, Appellate and High Court Judges, the Chief Justice of Sierra Leone, Justice Abdulai Charm, said they were launching a compendium of electoral laws in Sierra Leone with assistance from the United Nation Development Program (UNDP).
He said the compendium is one of the activities the judiciary has undertaken as part of the preparatory plans for the smooth and effective operation of the electoral offences court for 2018 elections.
“I appointed ten judges on 11th October, 2017, to preside over the electoral courts all over the country. They included three resident judges in Makeni for the North, Kenema for the east and Bo for the south. If there are reasonable number of offences in the new province of north-west, I will appoint another resident judge for Port Loko,” he said.
He noted that on October 31, 2017, he appointed Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay, Justice of the Appeals Court as supervisor of the said electoral offences court, adding that Justice Sesay had already constituted a small committee of the relevant stakeholders and one of the outcome of the work of that committee was the compendium that was launched.
He said the compendium dose not only contain the relevant electoral laws but also related laws such as the 1991 constitution of Sierra Leone, the Public Order Act of 1965, the High Court Rules of 2007, among others.
“It is my view and hope that the laws which are contained in the compendium would serve as quick reference materials for all users including the judges and the counsel to enhance expeditious trials of those matters that would come up,” he said.
He urged the judges of the court to enhance the effective and speedy trials, saying that efficient and speedy trials are not only needed for quick dispensation of justice but also to quickly diffuse the tension and passion that are usually sparked by elections’ disputes.
He said the work of the supervising judge, Justice Monfred Sesay, is limited to administrative support to the courts and that each judge should be independent and responsible for his or her decision and any dissatisfied party has the right to appeal to the Appeals Court.
He said the electoral offences courts are only concerned with criminal matters as designated in the Public Elections Act 2012 and petitions that may come up from paramount chieftaincy and parliamentary elections.
UNDP’s Country Representative, Mr. Samuel Doe, said electoral justice is one of the common tools of democracy to safe guard the value of electoral processes and political right of all citizens.
He said it has the fundamental role to strengthen democracy while commending the Judiciary for bringing together judges, magistrates, court clerks and other staffs to the occasion.
“Electoral justice should be seen as impartial and the judiciary plays a centre role in increasing the centre stage of democracy,” he said.
The UNDP country representative further said his institution provided technical support to some institutions including the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) and Legal Aid Board (LAB), as the judiciary is ready to receive the judicature in the electoral circle in Sierra Leone.
