CARL and AASL urge resumption of Constitutional Review, recommend a more extensive process
The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) and ActionAid Sierra Leone (AASL) today called on President Julius Maada Bio to resume the Constitutional Review Process, pointing out that the importance of a revised Constitution that helps guarantee citizens most basic rights and promote equality cannot be overemphasized. CARL and AASL note that Sierra Leoneans agreed long ago that the 1991 constitution is flawed and that changes are needed to make Sierra Leone a more democratic and egalitarian society. CARL and AASL would like to remind President Bio of his publicly stated commitment to the constitutional review process in his remarks at the State Opening of Parliament in May 2018:
“In the New Direction, Government will commit itself to adhere to the rule of law and institutional reforms to maintain law and order in society. This will mean I will lead by example, demonstrating the necessary discipline to refrain from acting unconstitutionally and scrupulously respecting the rule of law in the best interest of national development and stability. Therefore, we endeavour to…examine the recommendations of the Constitutional Review Commission and the accompanying White Paper with a view to giving effect to them as much as is practicable.”
We urge the President to make good on his promise to examine the recommendations of the Justice Cowan CRC Report by announcing concrete plans for the resumption of the process.
“The constitutional review process started more than a decade ago, and in spite of the best efforts of local and international actors, the country is still stuck with a Constitution that is, in many respects, unresponsive to the aspirations and demands of a 21st Century democratic society”, said Ibrahim Tommy, Executive Director of Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL).
In 2013, five years after the Peter Tucker Constitutional Review Committee completed its work, President Koroma set up a new 80-member Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) with a mandate to resume the review in a transparent, participatory and inclusive manner. The final report, containing eight new chapters and 132 proposed amendments, was presented to the Government of Sierra Leone in January 2017. When ten years of work was presented to the president, State House dismissed everything of substance in a hastily-written Government White Paper. What was left after being eviscerated by the White Paper wasn’t worth the money to put it out or even to print it.
CARL and ActionAid commend members of the Constitutional Review Committee, especially its Chairman the late Justice Cowan, for their firm commitment to ensuring that the dominant views of Sierra Leoneans featured prominently in the report. We note that while there is still room for improvement, the report contains brilliant recommendations which could help strengthen human rights and significantly improve governance in Sierra Leone. We urge President Bio to resume the process by, among other things, setting up a small panel of experts to review those recommendations with a view to making a more progressive constitution. Given the dynamic nature of society, we cannot let our laws become stagnant; certainly not the supreme law of the land – the Constitution. We urge you to revive the review process so that we can produce a new and better Constitution of Sierra Leone.
“Following the successful March 2018 elections, arguably the most important outstanding governance issues that needs to be addressed is the constitutional review”, said Aminata Lamin-Kelly, Governance Programme Officer for Action Aid Sierra Leone, adding, “It is critical to securing the medium and long term development aspirations of Sierra Leone”.
Thanks for the Partnership with Action Aid, CARL will shortly commences a series of meetings with principal government officials, including the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, parliamentarians, and officials at State House as part of its advocacy efforts.
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