Freetown, 31 January 2022. The Legal Aid Board (LAB) has put modalities in place to provide legal representation to 1,013indigent inmates whose matters have been listed for hearing during the Judicial Week.
The Board’s preparedness came following final discussions with the Chief Justice of the republic of Sierra Leone, His Lordship Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards and other key stakeholders on the planning of the Judicial Week which commenced on Monday,31 January 2022.
Of the 1,013 inmates whose cases have been listed for the week, 709 are scheduled for hearing in Freetown and Waterloo while the remaining 304 will be heard in various courts around the country. In all, a total of 30 courts around the country have been designated for the week long session. Of this number, 18 are in Freetown and Waterloo while the remaining 12 are in the provinces.
During this period, inmateswho have been in correctional centers for long periods,such as prolonged adjournment;inmates on remand without bail; those on bail but did not meet their bail condition; inmates awaiting indictments; those on summary review, etcwill have their cases heard by judges already identified for purposes of the Judicial Week.
The move according to the judiciary is to decongest correctional centers across the country.
Speaking on the Board’s preparedness, the Executive Director, Ms Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles informed that Legal Aid Board Counsels have filedvarious applications ahead of the week long sessionwhich include: applications for habeas corpus, bail, summary review, etc.
Ms Carlton-Hancilesalso disclosed plans by the Board to recruit additional lawyers on a week-long basis to assist the Board’s defence team inensuring that all those whose matters have been listed for hearing around the country have access to legal representation.
Thelawyers,she said, will be deployed in courts that are yet to have LAB counsels for the session both in the western area and the provincial areas.
She appealed to LAB counsels to remain committed to their work and to continue to uphold the Board’s good spirit in ensuring that indigent persons are well represented.