My Most Memorable Client Interview

By Esther Kabia, Extern, LAWYERS

From what I learnt, the interview room at LAWYERS had seen its fair share of tears, but this was my first during an interview.

The young lady came into the office on the 13^th December 2011.  I could see she was badly hurt, so I asked if she had gone for a medical report and treatment.  She boldly answered yes although she claimed she had left the necessary documents at home (I learnt later that she had never been).

She was evasive and refused to face me.  She was reluctant at first, and referred to me as Isata when I had introduced myself as Esther.  I was at a loss.  I had an opportunity to practice all I had learnt about client interview, yet my client wasn’t cooperating and it didn’t seem to be working.  It seemed that the young lady had not wanted to come forward on the issue.  Perhaps she had done so to appease the lady who had referred her to the office, someone whom I understood she held in high regard.

I was determined to make it work, and of work it did.  After almost 15minutes of meaningless chatter, she gave in.  I encouraged, persuaded and cajoled her.  She had been adamant, yet in an instant, something snapped and she burst into tears.  I gave her a hog and this was when she warmed up to me and started talking.  Phew!  My interview was on.

It turned out she had an abusive partner.  For any trivial reason he would beat her up and then to add to her injury, he would take their two year old daughter either to his mother or to a particular “lady lover” of his.  She had been cohabiting with him since 2007 and this had always been the case.  He provided n support for her she stated, yet he always took part of her meager salary as a waitress at a local restaurant.  This had fueled the argument which led to her severe beating this particular time.  She said “I don’t want a case, I don’t want to go to court, I don’t even want to return to his house.  All I want is my daughter.”

I gave the necessary legal advice and consolation.  I had a word with the Administrative Officer and set an appointment for my client.  My client left with a promise to show up for the appointment (a promise she never kept) and my phone number.

My client had left no contact number and when I visited her place of work I learnt she no longer worked there.  I spoke with the Administrative Officer and she assured me this was no unusual occurrence.  Some clients she said will not show up after the first visit, would never call and that would be the end of the case.

I am writing this post because I got call from this young lady.  She sounded different.  She informed me she had returned to her village to reside with her mother and raise her daughter.  She had been apprehensive of the legal clinic, however, it turned out she had used it and part of what she gained during out interview against her partner.  A partial illiterate himself, words like domestic violence, maintenance, court, trial, human rights abuse had led him to take his leave of her she stated.  She stated that he sent an undecided amount of money monthly for his child’s upkeep.  She sounded happy and promised to come see me at the office next she was in town.  

Putting a Stop to Domestic Violence

By Alimamy Koroma, Extern, AdvocAid

Domestic violence generally refers to any form of violence between members of a household.  In Sierra Leone and particularly in the provinces where illiteracy is tremendously high, domestic violence is often perpetrated by men against their wives or partners who because of cultural reasons, ignorance and dependency cannot break from such chains of abuse.

Although there is no comprehensive statistics about the magnitude of the problem,  most experts nonetheless believe on average 6 out of every 10 women in Sierra Leone suffer some form of physical abuse from their partners at least five times a year. It is believed that hundreds of these cases result in serious physical and emotional impairment including deaths. In Portloko for example, which is one of the most impoverished districts in the country, domestic violence is so common that most people do not think of it as a crime, despite the series of laws recently passed by the government to protect women and the frantic efforts of human rights organizations to ensure compliance. According to the Police Superintendent attached to the Family Support Unit of the Portloko Central Police Station, men perceive their wives as personal properties and therefore have absolute rights to beat, kick or even smash them as and when they feel like. She said “Most times the women are hesitant to come to the station for fear of family abandonment and stigma. The few women who flee to our rescue only do so when the situation has spiraled out of control and the level of violence suffered by some simply defies beliefs. One woman came with half of her body burnt, after her husband had thrown hot water at her for being late to prepare the meal”. Stories like these are unfortunately far way too common, with women being beaten for all sorts of reasons, including for cooking late, for asking questions and for even staring at their husbands!

As mentioned earlier, the government in 2007 passed the DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT whose preamble states its purpose as “… to suppress domestic violence, to provide protection for the victims of domestic violence, and to provide for other related matters.” The act gives a very wide definition to the problem and goes on to provide for various protection orders for victims. But, five years after, men continue to brutalize their wives and the vexing question therefore is why?

I suppose cultural perception of marriage is one of the fundamental reasons for the problem and any effort aimed at reducing domestic violence must hence take cognizance of this. Given that most women are illiterates, their identities are defined solely by marriage status and an unmarried woman or worse still a divorced woman is an embarrassment both to her family and to society. It is not surprising therefore that even in the face of death women refuse to say no to violent relationships. Take for example, a friend, who has been in a violent relationship with a man for whom she has two wonderful sons. Recently, after a minor disagreement concerning a nagging neighbor, he beat her up until she passed out and then threw her belongings out of the house. As one of the few men in the family, I had to go and pick her belongings out of the compound and brought her and the kids to the family home. When encouraged to take the matter to police she refused claiming it will bring curse to her sons. Two months without  her matrimonial home proved too much to bear and one morning she told me she had to go back because “She is too ashamed to be a divorcee”. I was disappointed that she returned and every night I have nightmares that her husband might kill her one day.

Economic dependency on men could also be a major factor as it makes women absolutely powerless to take decisions. Most landlords in the provinces refuse to rent properties to a woman mostly because they doubt their capacity to pay but also because of the stigma of a single, independent woman. I am of the firm conviction that domestic violence would hardly stop as long as men continue to be sole breadwinners of families. An independent woman is no doubt a respected one.

And finally, silence and inaction on the part of victims of domestic violence is arguably the greatest stumbling block against ending this social disgrace. No matter what anyone does, coward men who beat up their wives would continue to go unpunished as long as their victims remain silent and do nothing. This is not in any way meant to blame victims for the problem. But how can the law take effects if the primary witnesses refuse to give evidence or are unwilling to even report the crimes in the first place? The message to women in abusive relationships is therefore you are too precious to be reduced into punching bags. Sierra Leone is a civilized country which does not condone anyone beating up their fellow human beings. The law criminalizes domestic violence and next time you suffer abuse from the hands of your partner, do not remain silent, instead report it to the police or come to ADVOCAID at 39 Liverpool Street, Freetown or any other human rights organizations. We are here to help you.

Another Case of Delayed Justice

By Anrite, Extern, Defence for Children

An eight years old girl was sexually abused.  The parents took the matter to the police station and it was sent to the Magistrate Court for preliminary investigations. Since it is a felony offence, the Magistrate Court does not have jurisdiction to try and proffer judgment but they conducted the preliminary investigations to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to be committed to the High Court for trial. 

Amazingly, after first hearing, the case took almost eleven weeks before it was heard again.  This is because the Magistrate was absent without any known justification for such a long time when the fate of both victim and accused were in his hands.  After reports to higher authorities, he started coming and with the help of the active participation of the young girl and other witnesses plus the medical evidence, the case was committed to High Court.  That gave a little sign of relief.  And though the parents were of the view that they will not have to wait long for the case to come up, it has been five months and it is quite probable that they will have to wait for twelve to eighteen months before the case comes up in the High Court.  This begs the question, why the incredible delay?

Legal Education at Prince of Wales & Annie Walsh Secondary Schools

By Vivienne Esther Kabia, Extern, LAWYERS

On the 5^th of June 2012, Alimamy Koroma (a fellow extern) and I went to the Prince of Wales Secondary School to do a legal education session.  It was quite an interesting encounter.  The pupils asked a lot of questions and kept referring to me as Ms. Vivienne.

This post is a follow-up on one of these questions.  Apparently, a certain number of these young pupils had at some point had a form of contact with a particular law enforcement agency “the police” and as such they expressed concern towards the issue of arrest, specifically the justifiable amount of force that is applicable whilst making an arrest.

Arrest is one procedure of the criminal aspect of law to which many people can’t relate.  It is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation or prevention of a crime, and for presenting the arrestee to a procedure of the criminal justice system. Arrest involved taking a person into custody and detaining him for some period.  In Sierra Leone, it is the primary duty of members of the police force to arrest persons.  There are also certain other authorities who can make arrests to a certain limit: Magistrates within the limits of their specific jurisdiction; military officers also have the power to make arrests but it is limited to other military personnel.

The question of level of force allowed in making an arrest is provided for in the Criminal Procedures Act of 1965.  Various recent occurrences had roused the interest of these students, in seeking to ascertain how much force is actually required to make an arrest.  Let’s take a look at the provisions of the law – The Criminal Procedure Act 1965:

• ·       Sec 4 (1) – the constable shall actually touch or confine the body of the person to be arrested
• ·       Sec 4 (2) – if the person forcibly resist the endeavor, …the constable shall use sufficient force to effect the arrest but no more.
• ·       Sec 4 (3) – no fight to kill, except if arrest was upon a charge of treason, felony or inflicting a dangerous wound, arrest of a person cannot otherwise be accomplished.
• ·       Sec 4 (4) – a private person can be called upon and it is his duty to give aid.

Individual citizens can also make arrests, but they have to hand over custody to the police as soon as possible after the arrest. 

What happens after an arrest is a whole new picnic.  However, in light of recent events where lives were lost in trying to effect an arrest, one is tempted to ask: Are the actions of the police in accordance with the conditions of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone and the Criminal Procedures Act of 1965?  Are they applying unnecessary restraints, acting out of line with their code of ethics?

If so, they are liable for disciplinary actions and persons arrested and violated can maintain actions for unlawful arrest, police brutality and misconduct.  *signs* but this we are yet to see!

“I have a question ma.  I would like to know what evidence is”

Hawanatu, Wilbri and I had visited the Annie Walsh Memorial School to do a legal education session.  The above statement was made by a pupil during the question and answer period at the close of the session, and as luck would have it, I as at the podium.

This was a challenge for me as I had just started a law of evidence course and barely knew myself.  Notwithstanding, I looked at the young lady and replied boldly “evidence is any material you can present to the court to prove your case and disprove the case of the other party.  I went on to list a few examples I was aware of at that point.

So far, all the legal education sessions I have participated in seem to bring up a new aspect of the law wherein I need to conduct an investigation.  After this, I must confess I paid extra attention to my evidence course.  It isn’t my favorite course (it seems I have an affection for family law), yet I made special effort to get a grasp of the whole concept.  This even boosted my grades, in trying to know what evidence is, I got proof of my hard work.  I extend my gratitude to the young lady for her in-deliberate push in the back.

My Interview with the High Court Registrat

By Anrite, Extern, Defence for Children

Upon helping Rebecca King – a Canadian Law Student on her research, though being with her for a very short time, I was privileged to be involved in an interview with a registrar of the High Court who has been there for twenty eight years.  In his interview, he gave a justification for the slow progress of the law with regards to victims' cases.

He said that when the case is committed, it has to be processed before it is called upon in the High Court.  It goes through the Law Officers’ Department for scrutiny to validate and set a date.  There are usually tons of cases already awaiting trial.  The judges have to take written report of proceedings.  Sometimes also, the surety for the accused person gives wrong address upon securing bail.  Even the accused gives wrong address at times thereby making tracing a problem.  The victims may appear but there is no lawyer to prosecute the matter.  With no legal advise, they may tend to make wrong pleadings.  The victim may be absent, the witnesses may be absent and sometimes even the police officer who should serve as witness are absent.  In such situations, the court will order a subpoena but this is no good if the accused or the victim cannot be reached.  Furthermore, judges are not around all the time as they may be in conferences, vacations, on medical and few absences are as a result of personal reasons.  In addition, the court operates like a school of some sort in the sense that the court goes on vacation at different times of the year.  During this period, no court employee will be actively on duty and the judges are no exception.  He added that if all the parties – victims, accused, police officers and lawyers are present, the case will be dealt with in a timely manner.  

But is this ever the case?  And is the system improving or otherwise?  These I believe are questions that are deeply rooted in our justice system?