By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Abdul Fatorma, Executive Director of the rights based group Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI) has called for more financial autonomy to be given to the judiciary.
Fatorma told Politico on Friday that this was important for the judiciary to be much more independent. Part of the autonomy he is calling for is to allow the judiciary to develop its own budget to be able to contract magistrates and judges to handle cases.
Fatorma’s remarks come at the backdrop of a new report launched by his organization titled: Justice Under Lockdown.
The report is an assessment of how human rights have been affected in the country due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the constraints of the judiciary in an increasingly politically charged atmosphere to provide justice for the citizens.
“We actually want the judiciary to be preparing its own budget rather than the Ministry of Justice under the Attorney General, because it is political. So if the judiciary decides not to go a certain way, definitely the Ministry of Justice will punish the judiciary by not allowing them to contract some of the magistrates and judges they may want to have on the bench and even their administrative things,” the activist told Politico.
CHRDI’s latest report indicates that there are only 63 judges and magistrates serving a nation of more than seven million people.
A recommendation in the report also highlights the point Fatorma was making by demanding that government ensures the judiciary has all the resources it needs to do its job independently.
According to the report, power for the judiciary to use the resource it generates was stripped away in the 1970s under the One Party Constitution.
“This has arguably diluted judicial independence from the executive. Judges and magistrates are widely perceived as corrupt and the justice system seen as instrument of state power and wealthy interests,” a portion of the report states.
Attempts by the executive to control the judiciary have been in practice for decades in Sierra Leone. This latest report by CHRDI shines a light on the future consequences of that. The organization says the judiciary has to find support outside of the government for it to maintain its independence.
“There is a real risk that bad governance could establish a new culture in the judiciary where judges view the executive as their superiors. Many magistrates, judges, and human rights organizations believe that the executive will likely persist in its attempts to gain control over the courts. Therefore, the argument goes, the judiciary needs to build support elsewhere to survive as an independent institution,” the report notes.
It further highlights grave concerns about how the lack of resources in the judiciary has affected citizen’s rights to access justice.
“State capacity to protect citizens from abuse by private and non-state actors is limited by serious logistical and financial constraints. Citizens should have statutory rights of redress when state authorities violate their rights,” it says.
Since the release of the report last week, Fatorma said the feedback has been positive from international and local actors within the judicial system. He said the recommendations are something they are open to have an engagement with government on, as well as the judiciary and other stakeholders.
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