The Executive Director of the Center for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) today welcomed the appointment of His Lordship Justice Abdulai Hamid Charm as Chief Justice of the Republic of Sierra Leone and Mr. Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
“On behalf of CARL, I congratulate both of them on their appointments and wish them success with their vision visions, for the justice system in Sierra Leone”, said CARL Director Ibrahim Tommy.
CARL is encouraged by these appointments as both appointees have made significant contributions to the justice sector. We genuinely look forward to seeing their knowledge and long-standing experience in the justice sector translate into a more efficient and accessible justice system that is capable of delivering justice fairly and expeditiously.
We are particularly hopeful that there will be a professionally healthy collaboration between both institutions to address the perennial challenges confronting the administration of justice, including the frequent delays in trials, prolonged pre-trial detentions, paucity of judicial officers and support staff, and a negative public perception about the justice system, amongst others.
CARL respectfully urges His Lordship the Chief Justice to act swiftly on improving judicial case and records management, as well as recruiting more judicial officials who will be permanently based in all the judicial districts of the country. We also encourage the new Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to push for the recruitment and retention of additional staff for the Law Officers’ Department, and ensure increased training for personnel of the Sierra Leone Police in terms of legal advice, preliminary investigations, and in carrying out prosecutorial duties.
CARL looks forward to more partnership with both the judiciary and the Attorney General’s Office as we collectively work towards increasing access to justice, enhancing transparency, efficiency and speedy trials, and narrowing the perception gap between citizens and the local justice institutions.
His Lordship Chief Justice Abdulai Hamid Charm has been a Judge of the High Court of Sierra Leone since June 2011 and was appointed a Judge of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2013. He has been a Legal Practitioner since 1991, with nine years experience at the Law Officers’ Department, particularly with the Director of Public Prosecutions Division, first as State Counsel and then as Senior State Counsel.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Joseph Kamara, who was called to the bar in 1990, had also worked in the Law Officers’ Department for eight years, become President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, worked in the Special Court for Sierra Leone as a Prosecutor, and was most recently the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone.
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