July 13, 2021
BY PROBLYN JOHN ALPHA
Six people drawn from three chiefdoms in Kono District have been trained as paralegals of the Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone.
The training was held at the Legal Aid Board Headquarters in Freetown on Friday, July 2nd, 2021.
In his welcoming address and opening remarks, the chairman of the training session Francis Gabidon welcomed the newly trained paralegals and others present and encouraged them to be committed and focused at all times.
He further explained that, the training was part of an eight months United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded project which is aiming at the victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence by using the community Legal Aid Board structure in three chiefdoms Soa, Gbense and Kamara respectively in Kono District. The paralegals were trained on the Legal Aid Act of 2013, Sexual offences Acts 2012 (as amended in 2019) domestic violence Acts 2007, registration of customary marriage and divorce Acts 2007, Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) through Mediation, Reporting, Data Collection tools and Primary Justice Services.
The paralegals will be working with partners at community level to monitor Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), to ensure that, such cases are reported to the police without delay, monitor investigations to ensure that the rights of victims and suspects are respected, stop any attempts to compromise those cases and raise awareness on the offences and penalties under the sexual offices Acts 2012 (as amended in 2019) through community and school outreach events.
In her statement, the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone, Fatmata Claire Carlton Hanciles, explained to the newly trained Paralegals about how the Legal Board came about. She maintained that, the board has come a long way since its inception in May 2015. She stressed that the public expectation about the board is very high and therefore will be pressured to provide legal services even with limited resources.
Madam Carlton- Hanciles admonished the newly trained paralegals to be committed and sincere with their job as they will be serving three things; which is -their God, Conscience and Graves.
She encouraged stakeholders of the three chiefdoms to work with the paralegals as they can only be successful when they all put hands on deck in order to fight against sexual and Gender Based Violence in the District and the country as a whole.
The newly trained paralegals are Amir Kamara, Mary Koakoneh, Sia Posuwa and Benjamin Simon Stevens. All of them thanked the management of the Legal Aid Board and UNDP for such a wonderful initiative and promised to be committed to their Job.