By: Alex A. Bah, Public Relations Assistant, ACC
The Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission Sierra Leone, (ACC-SL) Francis Ben Kaifala Esq., on Friday 26th January, 2024 thrilled students of the Sierra Leone Law School, Jomo Kenyatta Road, Freetown with an intriguing lecture delivered as the Guest Lecturer. The Lecture was themed on: the Court Systems - their supposed roles as opposed to their actual mode of operation.
Delineating on the said topic, the Commissioner spoke about the development of Courts, their initial purposes, how they actually operate in contrast to how they ought to operate. He said Courts were developed during the primordial period in the Roman Empire to settle minor disputes without necessarily involving the King. He continued that as things developed, laws and courts were created to bind and regulate the behavioural patterns of citizens, thereby to a very large extent, eroded “consent”.
Commissioner Kaifala added that in the firm interest of dispute resolution and in ensuring that the society does not resort to a state of nature, a triadic dispute settlement means was created. He noted that this triadic settlement is the most coercive with Judges supposed to be independent and honest. He however underscored that as a mark of its coercion, parties to a matter are left with no option than to heed to the structure of the State regardless of any reasonable question surrounding the honesty, credibility and independence of Judges, hence the State vs a said party.
“Justice may happen here but I want you to cancel the independence notion”, he noted. He advanced that there are multiple layers of interest ranging from Social, Personal, Other People’s Interest, among others that are many considerations within legal systems and most specifically among Judges.
“I am not here to break your zeal, I came here so that you ask more questions. I want you to have conversations on these to guide you as you become lawyers, give you your sanity and above all show you how to make money without being dishonest”, he averred.
A period of question and answer session climaxed the awe-inspiring lecture.
