July 13, 2017 By Memunatu Bangura
Justice Nicholas Brown-Marke
Supreme Court Judge, Justice Nicholas Brown-Marke, has disclosed that the Judiciary would soon introduce Saturday court sittings in Correctional Centres across the country.
The apex court judge said the sittings would commence after the finalisation of the draft bail and sentencing policy.
He said the move would be aimed at reducing congestions in Correctional Centres by apparently presiding on matters for inmates whose files were missing and have been on remand for a long period without trial.
Justice Brown-Marke made the above disclosure at British Council Auditorium in Freetown while delivering a keynote address during a two- day national workshop organised by Legal Aid Board for its staff and partners on the draft regulation on bail and sentencing policy.
He said the Pademba Road Correctional Centre was constructed to accommodate three hundred thirty- three inmates but was presently accommodating over one thousand inmates.
According to him, the Judiciary has visited nine districts in the country and found out that ninety percent of Sierra Leoneans were ignorant on the fact that bail was free.
He said as part of their operations, the Judiciary has also discovered that four times the number of people living in Kenema were on remand at Correctional Centres because bail was not granted to accused persons as required.
He stated that after the draft bail and sentencing policy would have been rolled out, Magistrate would be writing down reasons denying bail to any accused person.
“When a Magistrate grants or refuses bail, he should write the reasons why he grants or refused bail and that the accused persons has right to request for a copy of the document within twenty four hours,” he said.
Justice Brown-Marke noted that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has provided ten mobile phones for High Court Judges to monitor court proceedings across the country.
“These mobile phones help us to see every happening in and around the court. If a Magistrate grants or denies bail, he should use the phone to give a photo of the file and bail conditions. We want to reduce the amount of people in prisons,” he said.
He said bail was not a way of punishing an accused person especially for offences that bail should be granted.
The judge said after the promulgation of the Bail and Sentencing policy, all court sittings should end at 4:30pm each day to allow accused persons to meet bail conditions that the court may have set.
He said officers at Correctional Centres were complaining about the congestion of prisons with remanded accused persons.
According to him, after the law would have been implemented, the court would sit throughout the year without vacation.
He said when an accused was on trial and the prosecutor wants to object to bail, the office would have to swear an affidavit for his objection to bail as a way of reducing the unfairness to accused persons.