One of the growing problems facing officials at the Remand Home is the issue of delay in trials. This situation has become too worrisome as some of the juveniles outgrow age limits while in detention awaiting trial, often incite riots.
The Child Right Act of 2007 defines a juvenile as “any human being below the age of eighteen years”. The Sierra Leone government has ratified various International instruments aimed at promoting and protecting the rights of children, including the Convention on the Right of a Child, the African Charter on the Right and Welfare of the child and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juveniles. All of these Conventions are geared towards the promotion of Juvenile Justice and the right of the child, in particular.
Despite the ratification and domestication of some international treaties on child rights by the Government of Sierra Leone,, there are still delays in the trials of Juveniles, which is contrary to both the Convention on the Right of a Child and the Child Right Act. The law provides that juvenile matters as well as all other matter should be tried fairly and in a “reasonable period of time”. While the Sierra Leone constitution does not explain a ‘reasonable period of time , it is generally assumed, and for good reasons, that all trials should be conducted without unnecessary delays.
Article 40 (2) (iii) of the Convention on the Right of a Child states that any Child in conflict with the Law shall “have the matter determined without delay by a competent, independent and impartial authority”. In Sierra Leone, this international provision is not being strictly followed. It is disheartening to know that juveniles are remanded for long periods during trial at the Remand Home and at the end of the trial, those that are found guilty are in some cases not given any credit for time served as is usually the case of adult offenders. Therefore, juveniles serve a longer sentence at the Approved School. , There are various reasons for the delay in trial of juvenile offenders that will be discussed below.
Presently at the Remand Home, there are juvenile offenders that have been tried in different Magistrates’ courts. Preliminary investigations were done and their cases had been committed to high court for full trial since September, 2009. Some of them were charged for various crimes like robbery with aggravation, murder, burglary, and conspiracy to commit felony. Two of these offenders were to appear in court on the20th September 2009, which they did but the case was not heard. The Court Clerk told them that they did not have a judge to sit on their case and as we speak, they are still awaiting trial at the Remand Home.
Another issue is that of age assessment. There have been instances where prosecutors have to argue the defense with regards to the age of juveniles sent for trials. The magistrate will then use his or her discretion by sending the offender for age assessment which in itself is a good idea, but on the contrary helps to delay the process of the trial. Because assessing the ages of these offenders takes a long time and the results are normally delayed, the Magistrate is left with no option but to keep on adjourning the cases.
Another reason for delays could be the absence of the justices of peace. As it is clearly stated in section 4 of Cap 44 of the Laws of Sierra Leone 1960, “The juvenile court should be made up of a Magistrate, with powers to sit on such trial with at least two or more Justices of the Peace. Therefore, the absence of one automatically makes the court to be unconstituted. On many occasions, CARL has observed the absence or lateness of at least one Justice of the Peace during proceedings in juvenile trials.hus the court must stand down for maybe 30 minutes just to await their possible arrival. This in itself causes delays.
The detention centre for juveniles, also called the Remand Home, is supposed to be a place of reformation and rehabilitation of the juvenile on one hand, and of promoting their reintegration and their assumption of a constructive role in society on the other. It is not a place for the punishment of Juvenile Offenders, as stated in (section 20 (5) of cap. 44 of the Laws of Sierra Leone). Delaying their matter in court and keeping them in the detention center for years is tantamount to punishment, even before they are found guilty.
What this article seeks to achieve is to advocate for speedy trials of juvenile offenders, because the slow process of handling juvenile cases has had a huge negative impact on both the first time offenders as well as the probation officers taking care of these inmates. We recently learnt that there was serious riot at the remand home which was allegedly incited by one of the long term inmates at the centre who had spent nine months in custody without a logical conclusion of his matter.
These are just some of the many issues that the officers at the remand home and prosecutors have to cope with. If not properly handled, they will escalate to something else, because when these offenders go on rampages they target officials and use abusive languages, thus posing danger to the security of these officials.
Also, keeping offenders in custody is a waste of tax payer money, as it is costing the Government a lot of money to even take care of their basic needs like food, medication, clothing, etc.
The Center for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) is of the view that fair and expeditious trials for juvenile offenders would help bring sanity to the remand home, the community and the country as a whole.
This will also help in reforming the lives of these offenders, and help them to contribute to the development of the country.