THE SIERRA LEONE JUDICIARY

INTRODUCTION
The Judiciary of Sierra Leone as one of the three organs of government as provided for by the
1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No. 6 of 1991, is the arm of government empowered to
interpret laws made by the Legislature. Section 120(1) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone states
that the judicial power of Sierra Leone shall be vested in the judiciary. The judiciary of Sierra
Leone, headed by the Chief Justice, comprises two major divisions of the court system of Sierra
Leone: the superior court of Judicature which consists of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal
and the High Court and the inferior courts comprising the Magistrates courts and the Local
courts. The Magistrates Courts as established in S.4 of the courts act 1965, exist in each district
in Sierra Leone, whereas S. 2(1) of the Local courts Act 2011established that the local courts
administer customary law, and exist in all chiefdoms in Sierra Leone outside the Western Area.

1. THE SUPREME COURT

At the apex of the hierarchy of courts in Sierra Leone is the Supreme Court. Section 121(1)
provides that the Supreme Court shall consist of the Chief Justice, not less than four Justices of
Supreme Court and such other Justices of the superior court of judicature or of the superior
courts in any state operating a body of law similar to Sierra Leone. The Chief Justice may for the
determination of any particular cause or matter request to sit in the Supreme Court for such
period as the Chief Justice may specify or until the request is withdrawn. According to Section
121(3) the Chief Justice shall preside at the sittings of the Supreme Court and in his absence the
most senior of the Justices of the Supreme Court as constituted for the time being shall preside.
The quorum of the Supreme Court shall not be less than three justices. The Supreme Court is the
final Court of appeal in Sierra Leone and as such, appellate and other jurisdiction may be
conferred upon it by the Constitution or any other law.
The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction to the exclusion of all other courts in two instances:
1) In matters relating to the enforcement or interpretation of any provision of the constitution and
2) Where any question arises whether an enactment was made in excess of the power conferred
upon Parliament or any other authority or person by law under the Constitution.
In addition to these jurisdictions of the Supreme Court, it also performs supervisory role over all
courts inferior to it.
For one to be appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court, he/she must have practiced law in
Sierra Leone or any other jurisdiction that has similar legal system to that of Sierra Leone for not
less than twenty (20) years.

2. THE COURT OF APPEAL

The court of Appeal is the second highest court of the land. Section 128(1) provides that the
Court of Appeal shall consist of the Chief Justice, not less than 7 Justices of the Court of Appeal
and such other Justices of the superior court of judicature as the Chief Justice may for the
determination of any particular cause or matter, request to sit in the Court of Appeal for such
period as the Chief Justice may specify.

Section 128(2) provides that the Court of Appeal shall be duly constituted by any three (3)
Justices.  However, a single Justice of the Court of Appeal may exercise any power vested in the
Court of Appeal not involving the decision on any cause or matter before the Court of Appeal
where:
1)      in criminal matters, if any such Justice refuses or grants an application in exercise of
any such power, any such person affected thereby shall be entitled to have the application
determined by the Court of Appeal as duly constituted and
2)     in civil matters, any order, direction or decision made or given in pursuant of the power
conferred by the provision may be varied, discharged or reversed by the Court of Appeal
as duly constituted.
Section 129(1) grants the Court of Appeal jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from any
judgment, decree or order of the High Court of Justice or any Justice of the High Court and such
other appellate jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it by the Constitution or any other law.

The Court of Appeal is to be bound by its own previous decisions and Courts inferior to the
Court of Appeal are bound to follow the decisions of the Court of Appeal on questions of law as
provided for in Section 128(3).
For one to be appointed as a justice of the Appeal Court, he/she must have practiced law in
Sierra Leone or any other jurisdiction that has similar legal system to that of Sierra Leone for not
less than fifteen (15) years.
3. THE HIGH COURT
The High Court is the lowest court in the superior court of judicature. Section 131(1) provides
that the High Court shall consist of the Chief Justice, not less than 9 High Court judges and such
other judges of the superior court of judicature as the Chief Justice may for the determination of
any particular cause or matter, request to sit in the High Court for such period as the Chief
Justice may specify or until the request is withdrawn. The High Court shall be duly constituted
by any one judge of the High Court sitting with a jury in criminal hearing as provided in Section
131(2).
The High Court has original jurisdiction to hear and determine Criminal Felonious cases such as:
rape, murder, robbery, treason, to name but a few; and civil matters as stipulated in the High
Court Rules of 2007.
The High Court of Justice has supervisory jurisdiction over all inferior or traditional Courts in
Sierra Leone and any adjudicating authority as provided in S 134 of the Constitution of Sierra
Leone, Act No. 6 of 1991, and in the exercise of its supervisory jurisdiction shall have power to
issue directions, writs, and orders, including the writs of habeas corpus, and other writs of
certiorari, mandamus and prohibition as it may consider appropriate for the purposes of
enforcing or securing the enforcement of its supervisory powers.
It also has an appellate jurisdiction where it hears appeals from the Magistrate court for both
criminal and civil matters.
The High Court Divisions Order of the Constitutional Instrument No 4 of 2019 states that there
shall be eight divisions which includes:

Fast track commercial and admiralty division

Industrial and social security division

Land, property and environment division

Family and probate division

Anti-corruption commission division

Sexual offences division

General civil division

The criminal division

For one to be appointed as a justice of the High Court, he/she must have practiced law in Sierra
Leone or any other jurisdiction that has similar legal system to that of Sierra Leone for not less
than ten (10) years.

4. THE MAGISTRATE’S COURT

The primary inferior court of judicature is the Magistrate’s Court. Pursuant to the Courts Act,
Act No. 31 of 1965, Sierra Leone is constituted into Judicial Districts; Section 4 of the Act states
that there shall be constituted Magistrate’s Court in and for every judicial district. Magistrate’s
Courts have limited jurisdiction. Subject to their limitations, Section 8 of the Courts Act, 1965
provides that the Magistrate’s Court shall have the jurisdiction to do all lawful acts necessary to
enquire into and dispose of or to hear and determine all civil and criminal matters arising within
the district, area, or place for which it is established or transferred to it by the High Court. Such
jurisdiction is to be exercised by the Magistrate duly appointed to such courts.

Pursuant to S. 5(2) Each Magistrates Court is presided over by a Magistrate and in his absence
by at least 2 Justices of the Peace. In the case of the Magistrates Court sitting as a juvenile court,
the Magistrate sits with 2 assessors. It is not an open court; it is a closed proceeding.

Civil cases where the claim in question shall not exceed five million Leones

Criminal cases where the punishment of a prison sentence not exceeding five years or the
payment of amount does not exceed amount fixed by law can be heard and determined in the
Magistrate Court. However, the Court Amendment Act 1981 states that if the term of
imprisonment does not exceed 7years, the Magistrate may preside.

S. 7(1) further states that, in addition to civil jurisdiction which may be conferred upon
magistrates’ court, it shall not have jurisdiction to hear cases of slander, libel, breach of promise
of marriage, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.

The magistrates court has jurisdiction to hear summary offences such as trespass, pick-pocketing,
loitering etc. and hybrid offences and other less serious criminal and civil matters such as
offences under the domestic violence act such as emotional abuse, psychological abuse etc.
However, in hybrid cases the magistrate needs to seek the consent of the accused before trying
him in the magistrates’ court.

It has supervisory jurisdiction over the local courts and has original jurisdiction to conduct a P.I
and hear and determine other matters summarily as provided in S.92 of the Criminal Procedures
Act 1965.
In addition to the original and supervisory functions conferred on the magistrate Court, it also
has an appellate jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals coming from the Local Courts. In
hearing appeals from the Local Courts, the Magistrate Court will sit as a District Appeal Court
(DAC) especially when hearing appeals dealing with civil claims from the local court. It is
therefore provided in S. 40(1) that the District Appeal Court shall comprise the Magistrate who
sits as chairman and two assessors who are experts in customary law.

For one to be appointed as a Magistrate, he/she must be a legal practitioner in Sierra Leone
whose further qualifications for appointment as Magistrate to be determined by the Judicial and
Lagal Service Commission
Justices of the Peace
These are provided for by Section 9 of the Courts Act of 1965. They sit in various magistrate
courts where a Magistrate is not available as the Chief Justice may decide.
 
5. LOCAL COURTS

The Local Court is the lowest court of the land and in the inferior court of judicature. Section
2(1) of the Local Courts Act of 2011 establishes that there should be a Local Court in every
chiefdom in Sierra Leone.

The local courts pursuant S. 2(2) of the Local Courts Act shall comprise of the Chairmen, Vice-
Chairmen, clerk of court, financial clerk, bailiff and other auxiliary junior staffs who are
appointed by the Chief Justice on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission.

The local court pursuant S.15(1) of the Local Courts Act 2011 shall have jurisdiction to hear and
determine all civil and criminal matters arising within the locality of its authority or transferred
to it by the Customary Law Officer (CLO) as provided for in section 34 of the Local Court Act
2011. In addition, it shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine:

All civil cases governed by customary law pursuant S.15 (2)

Criminal matters in which the fine does not exceed le 50,000 or a term of imprisonment of six
months

S. 15(3) states that a local court shall have jurisdiction on:

All civil cases governed by customary law including cases between PC’s, chiefs, chiefdom
councils involving a question to the title of land.

All civil cases governed by general law wherein the claim does not exceed one million Leones,
whether on balance of account or actions for recovery of possession, wherein the annual rental
amount shall not exceed three million and the term of lease does not exceed five years.
Has jurisdiction to administer the estates of a deceased person who died intestate and prior to the
death was governed by customary law.

S. 15(4) state the matters which are to the exemption of the Local court and they include slander,
malicious damage, breech of promise to marriage amongst others.

For one to be qualified to be appointed as a chairman of the Local Court, he/she must have
resided in the chiefdom for not less than five consecutive years, he/she must have not been
convicted for any offence involving fraud or dishonesty and must be knowledgeable in the
customs and traditions of the chiefdom to be appointed as provided in section 5 of the Local
Court Act 2011. In addition to this, he/she must also be able to read and write.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the administration of justice is the foremost function of the judiciary. According to
Section 120(2), the judiciary has jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters relating to the
1991 Constitution and such other matters conferring jurisdiction on it by Parliament or under an
Act of Parliament. Section 120(3) stipulates that in the exercise of its functions, the judiciary
shall be subject only to the 1991 Constitution or any other law and shall not be subject to the
control or direction of any other person or authority.

REFERENCES

1. The Constitution of Sierra Leone Act No. 6 of 1991

2. The Courts Act of 1965
3. The Court (Amendment) Act 1981
4. The Local Court Act 2011
5. Constitutional Instrument No 4 of 2019
6. The High Court Rules 2007
7. The Criminal Procedures Act 1965