Barriers to Justice in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leoneans attempting to access justice through the country's complex legal system are presented with a number of barriers. These obstacles can be broadly broken down into those that are the results of the system's costs (including c...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/160721468028867793/Barriers-to-justice-in-Sierra-Leone http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30539 |
| Summary: | Sierra Leoneans attempting to access
justice through the country's complex legal system are
presented with a number of barriers. These obstacles can be
broadly broken down into those that are the results of the
system's costs (including costs of services, fines,
time, and transportation) or structure (court
infrastructure, skills of officials, and lack of ownership),
or, in the case of the formal justice system, its
incompatibility with social norms. One of the foremost
barriers preventing access to Sierra Leone's justice
systems, both formal and informal, is cost. With a Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) per head of $548 in 2005, Sierra
Leone is one of the world's poorest nations. This
extreme poverty magnifies the effects of conflicts that are
small by western standards, and also amplifies the costs of
recovery. The costs of accessing justice in Sierra Leone
come in a variety of forms, including direct costs of
services, fines, time, and transportation. In Sierra
Leone's formal courts, where an inadequate legal aid
structure makes contesting parties responsible for court
fees, legal representation, and other service fees, costs
are prohibitively high for all but the wealthiest of
citizens. Yet even in local courts, which are designed to be
closer to the people, interviews suggest that costs are
often too high to encourage use. The World Bank's
justice for the poor program will continue to engage with
justice reform efforts led by local and international civil
society, international organizations, and formal and
informal institutions in an effort to improve and enhance
access to justice for the poor. |
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