The News Review:

- Juvenile detainees escape in Sierra Leone
- Last Three Days worth of Awareness Times News Briefs From Sierra…
- Democracy and Violence cannot be Bedfellows in Sierra Leone
- Stakeholders Review Restatement Of Customary Laws In Moyamba, Sierra…

Juvenile detainees escape in Sierra Leone
Independent Online – Jul 27, 2007
The boys, aged between seven and 12 years, and facing various charges ranging from petty theft to robbery, broke out of a camp on Wednesday, one official said. “It was apparently a well-planned act as the youths broke the metal bar frames of the doors to make good their escape,” a prisons official who asked not be named said. He said the youngsters escaped during a guards’ shift handover. Residents adjacent to the detention centre, perched on a hilltop overlooking a bay, said they heard noises and even saw some children walking away from the centre but did not suspect anything was amiss.

Last Three Days worth of Awareness Times News Briefs From Sierra…
Awareness Times – Jul 27, 2007
2 last Monday reportedly rejected a letter delivered to her by Omrie Golley and Kai Tongi, both men standing treason trial in her court. The letter which was reportedly written by the Prisons Medical Doctor Coker revealed some medical complications preventing the two accused persons from standing trial at least for now. Justice Sey reportedly told the Court that she was rejecting the report because it lacks sufficient elements for the intended purpose. President Kabba Commissions Hydro StationPresident Kabbah is reported to have recently commissioned the newly rehabilitated Goma Hydro Power Station in Ngowala Village in the Dodo Chiefdom, Kenema District.

Democracy and Violence cannot be Bedfellows in Sierra Leone
Awareness Times – Jul 27, 2007
However, a point of commonality among the various interpretations is that of the free and active participation of members of an association or in our case, all those who have got the vote in the political life of their various societies. My use of the expression active and free participation points to what the practice of democracy in its ideal form ought to be. Though no human society or system is perfect, and this is due to the fact that the key players here (human persons) are themselves imperfect, Western societies provide us with a better example, comparatively speaking, where democratic values are held almost as sacrosanct. And one thing which I have admired in such societies is not only the active and enlightened participation of theirs citizens but the violence-free ethos of the democratic process on the whole.

Stakeholders Review Restatement Of Customary Laws In Moyamba, Sierra…
Awareness Times – Jul 27, 2007
Customary Law consists of behaviors that can be objectively associated with a particular social setting. Sierra Leone, like many other Commonwealth African countries, was divided into two distinct territories during the colonial era. The first was the colony made up of Freetown and other parts of the Western Area and which operated with laws directly received from England and other local enactments. The second was the Protectorates (now the provinces) which applied customary laws to a large extent. With the merging of these territories after independence however, both systems of law were not merged and continued to operate side by side with many potential conflicts. Unlike the general law, customary law is unwritten and it varies from one community to another or from one tribe to another…
The JSDPS aim is to support development of an effective and accountable justice sector that is capable of meeting the needs and interests of the poor, vulnerable and marginalized. It commissioned the study on the restatement of customary laws in Moyamba district in May, 2006. This is in line with the Sierra Leone Local Courts Act which states that customary law must conform to natural justice. Restating customary laws will greatly reduce arbitrary use of power, and predicting the outcomes of cases dealing with customary laws will be made possible due to the documentation of actual customary practices that evolved into law as a result of their long usage. Documenting customary law shall, to a large extent infuse the much needed confidence in not only litigants but also the Court Administrators themselves. Lawyer Glenna Thompson, the JSDPs Manager for Administration of Justice component recently remarked that for the very first time in the history of Sierra Leone the restatement of customary law is underway to develop a more accountable and responsive-to-justice system that should benefit court users. According to Thompson, the local court decisions, after proper restatement, will be a true reflection of the peoples customs and customary law will be consistent with human rights principles.