By Politico Staff Writer
Chief Justice Babatunde Edwards says for the first time all judges from different cadre are undergoing training on electoral justice. He was speaking at the start of a three-day training which started yesterday at Tokeh.
Edwards said the training titled “Fostering peaceful credible and inclusive elections in Sierra Leone 2022-2023’’ was designed to promote electoral justice.
He explained that the system is set ensure that when offences are committed during the elections and when candidates are not satisfied with results after the election, the judiciary is charged with the responsibility to give validity and finality to the process through electoral justice.
He added that the competitive and political divisive nature of elections in a democracy together with its technical complexities make the electoral process vulnerable to abuse, dispute, fraud and violence .
“There is always and invariably the need for an effective mechanism to prevent, mitigate or resolve disputes that are likely to arise in every electoral process. That mechanism involves the use of courts and us” said Edwards. He added that elections happen once in a while, but that they form the basis for getting a democratically elected government.
Justice Edwards said that the court can help stop violent elections by promptly addressing issues concerning elections within the law.
He explained that the country has repealed and replaced several legislations dealing with elections, promulgated new rules of court for the judgment of election petitions and programming existing processes to ensure that they are more effective and efficient in handling elections disputes.
Edwards said the training is an integral part of the judiciary trying to seek professional development and capacity building programme, saying Judges, Magistrates and judicial support staff are required continually to sharpen their skills and ability with a view to making justice accessible, fair and expeditious to all Sierra Leoneans.
The training which constituted both local and foreign judges as facilitators was funded by Irish Aid, Canada, European Union, and the Government of Iceland under the auspices of the UNDP. The training ends tomorrow 15th April 2023.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (14/04/23)