Court proceedings in both civil matters and criminal cases are mostly laid to rest with the passing of judgement. Once the court has reached its decision, it is mandatory for the court officials to ensure the enforcement of those decisions for fair dispensation of justice. The litigants are also obliged under the law to respect the judgment made by honouring whatever fine or punishment imposed by the court. Yet what most often occurs in the local courts of Bo is contrary to best practise: it is fast becoming habit for court officials in the Native Administrative (NA) Courts I and II in Bo to fail in the enforcement of judgments passed in court. This article will examine specific instances of enforced judgments in the courts of Bo, with specific attention paid to the statutory powers of these courts over litigants. Finally recommendations will be proffered to remedy situations of this sort.
Statutory provisions on the jurisdiction and powers of enforcement by Native Administrative (NA) courts are specifically enshrined in the Amended Local Court Acts of 1965, 1966, 1974 and 1975. On the jurisdiction and powers of the Local Courts, Section 19 (1) states: “A Local Court, acting within the limit of its jurisdiction, may make the like orders and impose the like punishments as may be made or imposed in a magistrate court.” In other words, when a Local Court is exercising duties within its prescribed limits, it may give orders and impose punishments just as a magistrate court. Despite this, on a number of occasions, court officials in the NA courts in Bo have failed to enforce decisions taken even though they have the power to do so.
A case which illustrates this scenario is the civil case of insult brought before the NA Court II in Bo by Mr. Swaray (Plaintiff) against Bobor A. Kaitibie (Defendant). In this case judgment was passed in favour of the plaintiff in May 2007. The court imposed a fine of Le 150,000 which was to be paid by the defendant. To date, the amount has yet to be paid, yet the court has failed to enforce the judgment at the expense of the complainant. Likewise, the civil suit in NA Court I regarding alleged lying by Ibrahim Jalloh (Plaintiff) against Mr. Momodu (Defendant) was reported in July and judgement passed in November 2006. A total fine of Le 135,000 was imposed on the plaintiff by the court, but the fine has not been paid in spite of every effort made by the defendant.
A more serious example can be found in the civil case of trespass (viz., building on family land) brought by Mr. Kamanda (plaintiff) against Mr. Kamara (Defendant) before the NA Court. This case was reported in June and the verdict was given in July 2008. The court ordered the eviction of the defendant and payment of a fine, yet the defendant both refused the payment of the fine and refused to adhere to the court’s eviction order. These unfortunate instances in this part of the country hinder the smooth dispensation of justice and create animosity within the community.
The key issue at play here is that in spite of the powers of these courts to pass judgment in cases and their authority to impose fines and punishments, these powers are not being used effectively. Take the case of the powers of the courts to impose the expenses incurred by the successful party. Section 19 (6) (1) states that the Local Court may in civil cases order the payment of money due, damages, compensation and reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the successful party and his witnesses. This means that a local court may give directives for the payment of money due to the winning party, or for damages, compensation, costs and expenses lost by the latter and his witnesses, and yet this fails to happen in some of the cases before these courts.
The passing of judgment in civil and criminal cases alone is not sufficient to ensure justice. The legal system must also ensure that the decisions arrived at in the courts are followed to the letter. The courts have the authority and power to enforce their decisions, and it is only by the neglect of this duty that these court officials fail to enforce the judgments of the courts and thus prevent the dispensation of justice. The issue of enforced judgment in the Native Administrative courts in Bo is a serious issue of concern to all well meaning Sierra Leoneans who care about the dispensation of justice.
In order to ensure that judgments passed in Native Administrative courts are enforced, thereby ensuring fair delivery of justice, senior judicial officers are to start conducting capacity building training for local court authorities. The interpretation of the Act for local authorities should be offered, and, if possible, a reader friendly version of the Act should be provided for the use of authorities in the local courts. There should be full enforcement of the Act upon all persons found wanting, irrespective of status and affiliation.