Search Climate Insights Directory

This report chapter examines the state of the prison system in Sierra Leone as of 2008-2009, detailing systemic failures in human rights, infrastructure, and legal processes. It highlights severe overcrowding, poor medical care, and a lack of legal representation, while noting that the Prisons Service lacks the funding and human resources to comply with international standards despite government efforts to renovate facilities.

This report examines the judiciary of Sierra Leone, detailing its historical evolution from the colonial era through periods of authoritarianism and civil war to its current democratic transition. It analyzes the legal framework established by the 1991 Constitution, the structure of the court system, and the persistent challenges regarding judicial independence, institutional capacity, and access to justice for vulnerable populations.

This executive summary of a 2008 country review by the Institute for Security Studies examines the state of crime and criminal justice in Sierra Leone. It details how a history of authoritarianism and a civil war (1991–2002) led to the collapse of state infrastructure and the justice system. While post-conflict reforms have focused on the police and armed forces, the report finds systemic failures across policing, prosecution, prisons, the judiciary, and juvenile justice, including outdated laws, severe underfunding, and corruption.

This report provides a comprehensive review of the crime and criminal justice system in Sierra Leone as of 2008, examining policing, prosecution, prisons, the judiciary, and access to justice. It highlights the systemic collapse of these institutions during the civil war (1991–2002) and the subsequent challenges in reconstruction, including severe underfunding, corruption, politicisation, and a dual legal system that creates disparities between urban and rural justice.

This research paper examines the exclusion of women's experiences from mainstream depictions of war, specifically focusing on female soldiers in Sierra Leone. It argues for the recognition of wartime rape as a tactic of war and the need to address the insecurity faced by women and children during and after conflict to create effective post-conflict policies.

This report examines the judiciary of Sierra Leone, detailing its historical evolution from the colonial era through periods of authoritarianism and civil war to its current democratic framework. It analyzes the structural composition of the courts, the challenges to judicial independence caused by executive influence, and the institutional capacity gaps—including staffing shortages and poor infrastructure—that hinder the effective dispensation of justice.

This executive summary of Monograph 160 by the Institute for Security Studies provides a review of the crime and criminal justice system in Sierra Leone. It assesses policing, prosecution, prisons, the judiciary, access to justice, and customary justice, highlightingSSSSier Leone's transition from authoritarianism and a civil war (1991–2002) has left the state with a collapsed justice system characterized by inadequate funding, outdated legislation, and systemic corruption.