Separating the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice

 

Election Promise Tracking

Separating the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice

By Jane B. Mansaray

“The Justice sector in Sierra Leone is marred by poor service delivery, limited access to justice, limited allocation of resources, shortage of staffing and limited capacity.” This is a 2018 situation analysis of the justice sector, included the now-ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) New Direction manifesto. But three years into their leadership, time has come to assess the SLPP government’s efforts up to now, to depoliticize the justice sector and restore its independence.

The separation of the role of the Minister of Justice from the office of the Attorney General is one out of 14 promises made in the New Direction to advance rule of law, promote justice and human rights.

The promise was very clear: 

"The New Direction government will as a matter of utmost urgency undertake an overhaul of the judiciary and the justice delivery system in the country with a view to restoring public confidence in its independence and impartiality and make justice accessible and available for all."

In under three years, President Bio appointed three consecutive individuals to the dual role of Minister of Justice and Attorney General, continuing former government’s practices. In order to separate the two roles, Article 64 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone has to be amended, which is an extremely delicate and complicated process.

The Progress:

Abubakarr Joe Sesay, Head of the Strategic Communications Unit at the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), explained that "[t]his is not a promise of things that are easily going to happen, but have to take time to be implemented," suggesting that the process is complicated.

“All manifesto commitments with regards [to] constitutional amendments are being considered, and it is the Law Officers’ Department that starts the process. A lot has been done already in this direction with a number of laws reviewed, including the Criminal Libel Law. The fact remains the government still has two years left on its first term, so we should exercise patience,” spokesperson Sesay stated.

This reporter contacted the Law Officers’ Department, in the person of Mr. Thompson, who stated that he has no authority to speak with journalists and recommended analyzing the government’s White Paper on the Constitutional Review. However, the White Paper could not be found published on any of the government's websites.

Why does it matter?

Ibrahim Tommy, Executive Director for the Center for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL-SL)  said that his institution’s position-paper to the Constitutional Review Committee (the body responsible to amend the Constitution), clearly stated the importance of separating the two roles. "In this modern age, it is unacceptable that these two offices [are] still fused," Mr. Tommy said.

To begin with, Tommy explained, the position of the Attorney General should not be occupied by a politician. The Attorney General should be a legal professional, expected to take educated and independent decisions, and politics should stay out.  

“The best way to strengthen our rule of law and promoting public confidence in the judiciary system, especially in criminal proceedings, is to ensure the right legal framework in the justice sector with the essence of the Minister of Justice. [It] is a pre-election promise, and they have an obligation to do that," Tommy maintained.

The Attorney General advises the government on legal matters, while the Minister of Justice is a cabinet-level politician who participates in political decisions. "That fusion doesn't help the advancement of the rule of law and access to Justice," Tommy stressed.

For instance, the Attorney General can exercise power through the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in nolle prosequi, to discontinue or to take over a particular [legal] matter, and in exercising such powers, their decision will be seen as political influence, Tommy explained.

Andrew Lavali, Executive Director for the Institute for Governance Reform, said that the independence of the Judiciary suffers as a result of the current fusion of the two positions, but he doesn’t believe the situation will change anytime soon. “Some of the promises in the [New Direction] manifesto are overambitious and impossible to fulfill,” Lavali stated.

"The need for the separation is necessary because, simply put, the current dual role is partly responsible for some of our ills, including improper political interference," legal practitioner and Executive Director for the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ) Basita Michael commented. She described that having one person fulfill the dual role of Attorney General and Minister of Justice creates tension in loyalties, and conflict of interest, which continue to encourage political interference in the Judiciary and prosecutorial authority.

"Evidence abounds that it is virtually impossible to expect one individual to be independent from political or partisan considerations, [and] being both the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, so it's high time we do something about it," Mrs. Michael concluded.

Chairman for the National Grand Coalition (NGC) opposition political party, Dr. Dennis Bright, said that advancing Rule of Law and Justice as promised in the New Direction is far from reality. Dr. Bright alleged that the New Direction government has further destroyed the justice system with "orders from above,” – meaning political interference, making the situation worse.

"We have all the laws that we need to run this country, but who is implementing [this] is the problem," Dr. Dennis Bright said. He explained that the failure to separate the position of the Attorney General from the Ministry of Justice opened a window for politics to interfere with, and compromise the independence of the Justice system. "The way the system has fallen is due to the injustice," Dr. Bright thinks.

Chief Executive Officer for the Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI), Abdul Fatoma said that separating these two offices is recognized as a basic human rights principle.

"The New Direction government made a promise, and we are looking forward to the separation of that office because that will help to build confidence and trust with people," Mr. Fatoma said. He explained that the Office of the Attorney General serves as principal legal adviser for the government, and the Minister of Justice act as a liaison officer between the Presidential cabinet and the Judiciary. "It [is] complicated and compromised as well, because we don't want somebody appointed as Minister to be Attorney General. [We want] to see that access to justice is available to all," Fatoma added.

MIC’s Spokesperson, Abubakarr Joe Sesay, said that this promise is on course to being achieved, and the government is looking at it carefully. However, he provided no evidence or further information about the specific steps taken to achieve this promise.

Although the government would rate this promise as “In Progress,” no evidence was provided of the actual efforts done to date, and civil society organizations have not heard of the progress either. None of those interviewed for the article were able to confirm such progress. For these reasons, we rate this promise as “Not Yet Achieved,” and will update the story once the government provides more information.