By Elkass Sannoh
Chief Justice, His Lordship Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards has during the validation of the Strategic Plan {2022-2026} held at the Sierra Palms Beach Resort at Aberdeen in Freetown on the 21st March 2022 stated that the Judiciary needs a clear direction for the next five years to fully achieve its priorities.
“We need a clear direction for the next five years,” said Chief Justice Edwards, adding that, “everyone should be aware of these goals, strategic priorities and key activities.”
He continued that the Judiciary’s Strategic Plan is also tied to the country’s Medium Term National Development Plan, noting that everyone should be brought onboard in rolling out the Strategic Plan to achieve its desired objectives. According to him, the purpose of the validation conference was to validate and adopt the document to be used as an operational instrument.
In his power point presentation, the Lead Facilitator-Ousman Barrie, said the Government of Sierra Leone recognizes the Judiciary and the justice sector reforms being critical to promote justice and advance the rule of law. He said before now, the justice delivery services remained inadequate to meet the growing demand, especially for the most marginalized and deprived persons or groups in the country. He continued that amidst the overarching challenges, the Government of Sierra Leone has now identified the justice system as a key priority and has expressed a strong commitment to advancing the rule of law and promoting justice for all.
He said the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan aims at increasing access to fair and expeditious justice through effective and efficient case management and to also restore public trust and confidence.
The Principal Accountant-Alpha Charles explained that the establishment of the Communications Department has brought visibility to the Judiciary, stating that the Government of Sierra Leone will now be able to pay more attention to those priorities through regular news reports.
In his cost presentation on the fiscal year under review, Alpha Charles revealed that one of the challenges is limited funding to carry out the Judiciary’s activities.
The Supreme Court Master-Lansana Kotor-Kamara highlighted the four key priorities of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone, among them are effective, efficient and expeditious case management including the automation of systems and processes to make justice more accessible and affordable; Expansion of access to justice through improvements in the human and logistical capacities and physical infrastructure of the Judiciary, including court buildings, judges and judicial support services and logistical resources; Taking justice closer to the people by strengthening the local courts system, thereby increasing access to justice; Provision of judicial training and continuing professional development to expedite justice and facilitate the expansion of access to fair, impartial and effective justice; Improving on the institutional transparency and accountability of the Judiciary to restore public confidence in its independence and impartiality and finally to cross-cutting all strategic priorities.
