JUDICIARY WITH SUPPORT FROM UNDP TRAINS COURT REGISTRARS ON ELECTORAL JUSTICE

Judiciary of Sierra Leone Communications, Sierra Palms Hotel, Freetown, 14th May 2023: The Judiciary of Sierra Leone through the Judicial and Legal Training Institute (JLTI), with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), has concluded a two-day training of Court Registrars on promoting Electoral Justice ahead of the country’s general elections.

The training according to the Director of the JLTI, Honourable Justice Eku Roberts, geared towards broadening the knowledge and understanding of Court Registrars and to bring them to speed with Judges whose training had been concluded on the adjudication of electoral justice.

He said during the three days training for Judges in April, it was highly anticipated that if Judges have been well-equipped and capacitated to handle electoral matters and related disputes, “it is only but fitting that the support staff who work very closely with the Judges in each and every stage are also at par and up to speed with the Judges.”

Referring to the Registrars as an integral part of the “judicial family,” he encouraged them to take the training very seriously in order to be better placed to serve effectively in the forth coming elections.

In his opening statement, the Honourable Chief Justice, His Lordship Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards said the training is part of the UNDP’s support program to ensure peaceful, credible and inclusive elections slated for June, 24th 2023.

He stated that training is an integral part of continued professional development and capacity building in the Judiciary, especially for the Court Registrars whom he said forms a core part of judicial administration.

“As Registrars, you form a core part of the judicial administration as support staff without which we’ll not be able to deliver justice in an expeditious manner. So we felt that it was necessary and timely, apart from training Judges who will be the major players during this period, but to also train you because you’re there to assist the Judges in performing their duties,” Hon. Chief Justice Edwards said.

He stressed the fact that elections are a specialized activity, which even though they occur once in a while, forms the basis by which a democratically elected government is put into power. He went on to state that because it occurs once in a while, it means that knowledge and experience become scarce, which makes training of this nature quite significant.

He asserted that the training will not only give the Registrars valuable knowledge in electoral justice but also put them in a state where they’ll be able to apply that knowledge as we approach the general elections.

“You should count this as a privilege and an opportunity, and I expect that you use it well. To gain knowledge in electoral justice and all the processes involved, you should count yourself lucky that you’re selected,” he added.

He thanked UNDP for sponsoring the training for Court Registrars and further commended them to support putting together a compendium on electoral justice that will be published soonest.

He said the Judiciary administration is looking forward to seeing the best performance from Registrars to put into effect what they would have learned at the end of the training.

He concluded that the Facilitators are well resourceful with wealth of knowledge and experience in the areas identified to not only benefit the Registrars, but also strengthen the administration of justice as a whole.

After these remarks, the Hon. Chief Justice officially opened the training.

The topics range from Electoral Offences and Petitions Court; Jurisdictions, Offences and Procedures: (Criminal & Civil) and the Role of the Registrar; Access to Justice, Court and Time Management of Elections and Trials; Court Forms and Procedures in the Elections Offences and Petitions Court, A Checklist for Registrars; the Role of the Media in promoting Electoral Justice; Ethics and Code of Ethics for Judicial Officers /support staff;  the Role and Scope of Judicial Interventions in the Shaping of the Democratic Landscape and Diffusing Tensions and Maintaining Peace, among others.

The Facilitators included Hon. Justice Emmanuel Roberts (JSC), Hon. Justice Glenna Thompson (JSC), Hon. Justice Reginald Fynn (JA), Justice Monfred Sesay (JA), Justice Bintu Alhadi (JA), Lansana Kotor Kamara, Elkass Sannoh and representatives from the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone.

For more information contact the Judiciary Communications on +23234617548/79101086 or follow us on www.judiciary.gov.sl or on all our social media platforms.

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