By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Deputy Minister of Justice Umaru Napoleon Koroma has told Politico that there will be no new Law Schools in Sierra Leone as stated in the draft Council of Legal Education Amendment Act, 2021.
However, he said the document leaked on social media when it was still being drafted.
“We are drafting the amendment, we sent it to the printers so that we will take a look at the post-draft. I don’t know whoever sent it to social media. What was sent on social media was not our intention. We will get the printers to print the right document and send it to parliament,” he said adding that “there will be one law school with three campuses across the country.”
The said leaked bill stated it: “Being an Act to amend the Council of Legal Education Act, 1989 to provide for representation of Njala University and the University of Makeni in the council of legal education, to provide for the inclusion of the establishment and maintenance of Njala University Law School and the University of Makeni Law School as part of the duties and functions of the council, to provide for the appointment of board of directors, lecturers and other staff of the Njala University Law School and the University of Makeni Law School and to provide for other related matters,” the draft bill reads in part.
This retraction came after the bill was criticized and condemned by the country’s Bar Association after a copy of the said bill surfaced on social media. SLBA in their press statement noted that they were not consulted by the drafters of the bill and that same applies to the General Legal Council, the statuary body responsible for the regulation of legal education.
“The SLBA believes a wide consultation on the subject matter would have benefitted from a deeper brainstorming of the challenges sought to be remedied by the proposed bill. The Association holds the view that the heightened protest against the bill as a result of the absence of wide consultation with members of the legal community while the idea to restructure legal education in Sierra Leone is much needed, the process of such restructuring ought to be consultative and extensive,” the statement reads.
It added: “the proposal to include Njala University and University of Makeni in the council of Legal Education is an unnecessary expansion of the composition of the council of Legal Education which is currently facing infrastructure constraints. We do not believe that it is the best practice for every University which offers a degree in Law to be included in the Council of Legal Education.”
However, law students and other members of the public across the country expressed delight over the said leaked document, noting that it will give an opportunity to students who have completed their law degrees in their respective universities to gain access to the law school without having to wait on the long list of the only Freetown based law school that the country currently has.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (18/08/21)
