Hardship will soon bite judicial officers as UNDP (United Nation Development Programme) cuts down funding. The spending cut cannot be divorced from scathing reports of unprofessionalism against the third arm of government.
Several reports have castigated the judiciary saying the justice system favours few people while the masses are neglected. UNDP has been providing funds for the recruitment, training and payment of judicial officers (state counsels, magistrates and prosecutors and other staff for the effective and efficient delivery of justice.
But, the latest decision shocked senior judicial officers including the Chief Justice who, sources said, was in receipt of a detailed report on the current situation of the judiciary. The judiciary whose mandate is to interprete the law and punish offenders has not lived up to its mandate for the past five years.
Instead of upholding and protecting justice, human rights and freedom, the courts are bent on protecting only the interest of the party in power, a move that renders the judiciary as the least trusted institutions.
The courts’ image is at stake as they failed to hold the scale of justice with honesty and fairness.
They have been supporting only highly placed personalities in society as well as political elites while the poor and less privileged finds it difficult to access justice.
The on-going double standards in the justice system has caused many people shying away from the courts and choose mob rule.
Recent developments in the judiciary continue to expose the negative side of the country’s justice system.
No judge sat on a case recently filed by the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) asking the court to put a hold on the elections until several errors and irregularities were rectified.
Dark voter identity cards, absence of credible voter registration data and widespread political violence and intimidation were key issues opposition politicians had problem with.
Although the case was serious enough to warrant prompt action, no judge was assigned to hear the case leaving APC with no option but to call for nationwide protests.
To date, the case remains pending in court with no prospect of hearing.
Failure to hear APC’s case means the judiciary has abused statutory and moral precepts.
The Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991 confers right to fair hearing on any Sierra Leonean and the old moral adage says two sides to a story must be heard.
The lack of judge for APC’s case is reminiscent of the early days of 2018 when APC petitioned against several SLPP parliamentarians for which no judge was empanelled.
However, all SLPP petitions against APC were quickly given due attention and speedy hearing that resulted into the removal of 10 APC Parliamentarian in a day in May 2019.
The simultaneous verdicts handed down by Justices Komba Kamanda and Alhaji Momoh Jah Stevens represented a real judicial crises in Sierra Leone.
The twin rulings became more of a crises when defeated SLPP members of parliament were sworn in on the same day to replace the APC parliamentarians, an act that went against the Public Elections Act, 2022.
The law in question vividly provides that a re-run election must be conducted when a petition holds.
As if adding insults to injury,
The illegal removal of the parliamentarians caused trigger-happy police officers to pull the trigger without just cause.
For close to an hour, APC headquarters in Freetown was under siege pelted with bullets and teargas canisters targeting senior executive officials of the party including Ambassador Foday Osman Yansaneh, former APC Secretary-General and now Deputy Chairman.
Security experts said police shoot-out at the party office represents the greatest policing disaster of modern times.
The judiciary’s naked partiality in handling cases that concern the ruling and the main opposition parties has led to an erosion of trust and confidence in the country’s justice system.
In the recent election controversy, APC decided not go to the courts to challenge last month’s election results out of fear of not getting justice although they had a strong case to put forward.
Situation was also the same with PMDC (People’s Movement for Democratic Change) leader, Charles Francis Margai who sued ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone) for depriving him of nominating parliamentary aspirants in eight districts.
Like APC’s case, Margai’s matter was also treated with the greatest levity. What a frustrating situation?
APC chooses to sit at home instead of going to court, leaving the matter in the hands of God.
Many say APC has genuine grounds to be doubtful about the country’s justice system. The verdict handed down in the Proportional Representation matter is a case in point.
Bent on winning at all cost, the ruling party brought back the old PR system against the will of the majority.
The PR, until quite lately, has been one of the hottest topics for discussions and debates among political and academic circles as well as men in the streets.
The arguments hold that no existing condition warranted the use of a PR system in the elections.
Most of the debates has gone in APC’s favour.
One of Africa’s most learned lawyers,
Dr Abdulai Osman Conteh argued against SLPP’s move for a PR system cautioning government not to take Sierra Leone back to the dark days of history.
The erudite lawyer who is one of the authors of the 1991 Constitution submitted that two conditions warranted a PR system: “a date for elections has been announced and there are no constituencies.”
In this case, Dr Conteh went on, a date for elections had been and there were existing constituencies.
The court’s verdict favoured government, a move that stunned and shocked Dr Conteh saying “I wish there was another court.” Without any more court to go, Dr Conteh succumbed since the Supreme Court is the highest and final court of appeal for and within Sierra Leone.
The court verdict shows the extent to which Bio’s government was aided by the judiciary to bring back the PR system which was long forgotten after war was declared over in 2002.
The courts’ bias does not stop only at political matters.
Magistrates and judges have embarked on similar actions in criminal and civil matters.
When one talks about lack of neutrality by judges and magistrates, one’s mind goes back to the cases of former Defence Minister, Alfred Paolo Conteh, former Minister of Public Works, Ibrahim Kemo Sesay who were imprisoned on what many refer to as false claims.
In today’s situation, Sierra Leoneans who are not APC members kick against going to court when offended as they doubt the nature of justice in the courtroom.
As the doubt lingers, a cursory look at the one-month ban issued by the Chief Justice which brings about the Pa Demba Road prison protest also comes to mind.
According to the ban, no prisoner comes for trial until after a month owing to suspected Covid-19 case.
The protest which emanated from the illegal ban left 31 dead including a prison officer. Unofficial sources however suggest a figure higher than that put by government.
In spite of the sad occurrences, injustice still persists in the courtroom making it needless for UNDP to keep on financing an institution that does not live up to expectation.