He said the books came in at a time when they are on the verge of upgrading the capacity of the justice sector, stating that the books will help to capacitate the judges, legal practitioners and also will serve the public who are interested in the judiciary. He applauded UK-SL Pro Bono Network for their kind consideration in boosting the judicial system in the country, noting that “these are the kinds of gestures we are looking forward to that contribute to the development of the justice sector and the country”.
He said presently, through the leadership of the Chief Justice, Abdulai Charm, the management is working relentlessly to restructure the judiciary and on that note he mentioned that the Chief Justice has set up a committee chaired by Justice Browne Marke which is going to look into recommendations made during the Judicial Conference and to find ways to implement them.
He emphasized that out of the recommendation the observations made is about the capacity of judges and judicial officials and noted that judicial education is an important element in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of the judiciary and these can be enhanced by the provision of these books.
Justice Eku Robert mentioned some of the challenges faced by the judiciary especially in the area of equipped libraries to make their work more smooth but however said the donation of the books will help ease their problems, adding that they are looking forward to an electronic library system.
The donation came as a result of a request made by Justice Bintu Alhadi who said “books are fundamental to the work of judges and barristers to enable them perform effectively”, stating that she hoped that these books will provide useful information and provide aid to the judicial system.
Secretary General of the UK-SL Pro Bono Network, Momo Turay outlined key objectives of his organization which are to provide assistance in legal matters from both the government and legal professionals and collaborate effectively with judicial system in the country.
He said the organization is an umbrella network for UK legal professionals and organizations interested in providing pro bono legal assistance to Sierra Leone and therefore the donations came as a result of the long term relations between the Sierra Leone judiciary and the UK-SL Pro Bono Network and also informed the legal luminaries that his organization has plans to establish a judiciary library for judges.