By Abass Jalloh
The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) has held a three-day retreat with the Legislative Committee of Parliament in a bid to amend the Criminal Procedure Act of 1965.
This is the law that they use for all criminal matters in Sierra Leone, the Executive Director of CARL, Ibrahim Tommy Esq. said while speaking to journalists on Friday 10th June 2022 at New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown. He said it is the law that describes the procedures for the police to arrest or detain someone and bring them to court.
“The law has many provisions but we also realize that some of the provisions are old, and there are changes that will occur,” he said.
Tommy also stated: “We have got a draft of the amendment that we are looking for, but since ultimately this has to go to parliament, we say that let us bring the Legislative Committee of Parliament for us to introduce the proposed changes to them. If they have concerns, we revise the document based on their concerns.”
After the two-day discussions on June 10th and 11th for the review, the final version will be presented again to the Attorney-General, and the final bill to parliament.
Asked what some of the provisions that needed amendment are, Tommy cited that they had looked at the power of the police in terms of arrest and detention.
“We think that they will get plenty of powers to arrest and detain, and those powers are kind of very much white, and they are not as regulated as they are supposed to be, “he said.
A provision in the said Act says an offender should take 10 days in the police for a major crime and three days for a minor crime to be brought before the court of law. “We have also proposed that let us reduce those periods from 10 to seven days and three to two days,” he stated.
Tommy went on to say that there is a provision in the Act that when someone is convicted of a crime, the sentences can be “very limited”. He said either they impose a fine or send the person to jail. “So in this proposed amendment, we want to have alternative sentencing like Suspended Sentence, Differed Sentence or Community Punishment,” he disclosed.
Tommy added that they had been making effort for the last 17 years to make sure they repeal or amend this Act. He said in 2005 the Government of Sierra Leone had also been making effort for the change and that in the last two years they have received “immense support” from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Justice.
Justice Nicholas Browne-Marke, who was the lead facilitator on discussions about the Act, said there had been several versions of the Criminal Procedure Bill since 2005.
Justice Brown-Marke said some of these provisions are especially involved with women, saying that he was surprised to see only two female Parliamentarians on the first day of discussions.
He said for a serious crime that has been committed, it is first taken to the Magistrate Court before it is sent to the High Court. He mentioned treason, murder, and many more as examples of such serious crimes. He said all those offences that carry the death penalty prior to the passing of the abolition of the Death Penalty Act have to start at the magistrate court.
He said this amendment would help in terms of reviewing the number of days that a case would take before hearing and where adjournments are necessary during the trial.
The Chairman of the Legislative Committee, Marray Conteh and the UNDP Representative also talked on the issue.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (13/06/22)
