PROJECT BACKGROUND
Access to justice is a fundamental human right recognized in Sierra Leone’s 1991 Constitution and reinforced by international conventions to which the country is a signatory, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). However, for many women, children and less privileged individuals in Sierra Leone, this right remains largely unattainable due to deep-rooted structural, economic, political and socio-cultural barriers. Poverty is a primary driver of this injustice. According to the World Bank, a significant proportion of Sierra Leone’s population lives below the national poverty line, leaving them unable to afford legal representation, court fees, or the indirect costs of pursuing justice (World Bank, 2023).
Women face unique and compounded challenges in accessing justice. Gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual assault, domestic violence, early marriage, and harmful traditional practices, remains widespread despite legislative reforms such as the Sexual Offences Act 2012 (as amended in 2019), The Child Rights Act 2007 and the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act 2022. Survivors of GBV often encounter stigma, fear of retaliation, high legal costs, and weak enforcement of laws meant to protect them (AdvocAid, 2022; UNDP Sierra Leone, 2023). Customary law, which governs personal and family matters in many parts of the country, frequently disadvantages women in areas such as inheritance, divorce, and land ownership (Refworld, 2011). These discriminatory practices persist because many cases are resolved in informal settings where community harmony is prioritized over women’s rights.
Children also remain highly vulnerable within the justice system. The Child Rights Act 2007 sets the legal framework for protecting children, but enforcement gaps are evident. Many children face violations such as trafficking, child labor, neglect, and early marriage, with limited avenues for legal redress. Juvenile justice facilities and specialized child protection courts are scarce, and in rural areas, children in conflict with the law are often processed in adult courts, exposing them to further harm (UNICEF, 2022). Moreover, informal dispute resolution mechanisms often fail to safeguard the best interests of the child, particularly in cases involving abuse or exploitation.
The less privileged especially those in rural and underserved communities are doubly excluded from the justice system. Geographic isolation, lack of transportation, and the concentration of legal services in urban centers significantly restrict their access. The Legal Aid Board, established under the Legal Aid Act of 2012, has made strides in providing free legal services to indigent citizens, but its reach remains limited due to underfunding, a shortage of trained legal practitioners, and high demand for services (Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone, 2021). As a result, many poor individuals remain unaware of their legal rights or lack the means to assert them in court.
Institutional weaknesses further exacerbate the problem. The judiciary is under-resourced, with a small number of judges and magistrates serving the entire country, leading to prolonged case backlogs and pretrial detentions. Reliance on informal justice systems is widespread, but these systems often lack procedural fairness and can perpetuate discrimination against vulnerable groups (Open Government Partnership, 2020). Corruption, limited transparency, and insufficient legal literacy undermine public trust in the justice system, discouraging victims from seeking formal remedies.
In this context, the absence of accessible, affordable, and rights-based legal services perpetuates a cycle of poverty, marginalisation, and impunity. Women remain trapped in abusive relationships, children suffer from unaddressed violations, and the less privileged are denied fair hearing and protection under the law. Providing free legal services to these groups is therefore an urgent necessity not only to uphold constitutional guarantees and international obligations but also to promote social justice, strengthen the rule of law, and advance inclusive development in Sierra Leone. As highlighted by UNDP (2023) and Timap for Justice (2021), community-based legal aid initiatives have proven effective in bridging the justice gap, but scaling up these services nationwide is critical to ensuring that no one is left behind.
This project seeks to address these challenges by providing free, comprehensive legal aid services directly to women, children, and less privileged individuals within their communities, at police stations, and in courts across Sierra Leone. The initiative will deploy a network of trained lawyers and community-based paralegals who will deliver legal advice, representation, and mediation services for both criminal and civil cases. Special emphasis will be placed on cases involving gender-based violence (GBV), sexual abuse, child rights violations, unlawful detentions, and disputes affecting vulnerable individuals who cannot afford legal representation.
The project will operate through three core intervention streams:
- Community-Based Legal Aid Services: Mobile legal aid clinics will be established to reach underserved rural and peri-urban areas, offering on-the-spot legal advice, assistance with documentation, and referrals. These clinics will collaborate with local chiefs, community leaders, and women’s and youth groups to ensure culturally sensitive service delivery.
- Police Station and Court-Based Legal Representation: Legal aid officers will be assigned at selected police stations and courts to provide immediate legal assistance to detainees and defendants, particularly in cases where pretrial detention could result from an inability to secure legal counsel. This will include monitoring police practices, ensuring adherence to due process, and advocating for bail where applicable.
- Advocacy, Sensitization, and Legal Literacy: The project will conduct continuous awareness campaigns to educate women, children, and less privileged individuals on their rights under national and international law, as well as practical steps to access justice. Sensitisation will be carried out through radio programs, community dialogues, town hall meetings, school outreach, market talks, and printed materials in local languages. These efforts will also address harmful traditional practices, promote gender equality, and encourage the reporting of rights violations.
The advocacy component will extend beyond community engagement to include policy-level lobbying for reforms that strengthen the national legal aid framework, expand protections for vulnerable groups, and ensure equitable resource allocation to the justice sector. Partnerships will be established with civil society organizations, the Legal Aid Board, law enforcement agencies, various legal institutions and relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to foster coordination, avoid duplication, and maximize impact.
This integrated approach ensures that beneficiaries receive both immediate legal protection and long-term empowerment. By embedding services at the community level while engaging the formal justice system, the project will reduce the barriers that have historically excluded women, children, and the poor from exercising their rights. It will also help restore public trust in justice institutions by demonstrating that the law can work in favour of the marginalised.
Ultimately, the project will contribute to reducing rights violations, combating impunity, and promoting social inclusion. By the end of its implementation cycle, it is expected that thousands of women, children, and less privileged individuals across Sierra Leone will have benefited from direct legal aid services, gained knowledge about their rights, and developed the confidence to seek justice both locally and nationally.
PROJECT OVERALL GOAL AND OBJECTIVE
To promote equal access to justice for women, children, and less privileged people in Sierra Leone by providing free, community-based legal aid services, ensuring fair representation in police stations and courts, and empowering vulnerable groups through rights education and advocacy at local and national levels.
The specific objectives of the project are:
- To provide free, accessible, and quality legal aid services to women, children, and less privileged individuals in their communities, at police stations, and in courts across Sierra Leone, ensuring fair representation in both criminal and civil cases.
- To increase legal awareness and literacy among women, children, and less privileged people by sensitizing them on their rights under national and international laws, and by educating them on practical steps to access justice in their localities and at the national level.
- To strengthen the capacity of community-based structures (including chiefs, community leaders, and women/youth groups) to support the protection of rights and facilitate referral pathways for victims of rights violations.
- To advocate for policy reforms and institutional improvements within the justice sector that address the barriers faced by women, children, and the poor, ensuring that legal aid services are adequately resourced, decentralized, and gender-sensitive.
- To foster collaboration between legal aid providers, civil society organizations, law enforcement agencies, and government institutions to create a coordinated, inclusive, and sustainable access-to-justice framework.
PROJECT BENEFITS AND BENEFICIARIES
The project will directly and indirectly benefit a wide range of individuals and groups in Sierra Leone, particularly those who are marginalized or face systemic barriers to justice.
Primary Beneficiaries: These are the individuals who will receive direct legal aid, advocacy support, and rights education:
- Women: Especially survivors of gender-based violence, victims of sexual offences, women facing discrimination in inheritance, land ownership, divorce, and employment disputes.
- Children: Including victims of abuse (including sexual abuse), trafficking, early marriage, child labor, and those in conflict with the law.
- Less Privileged Individuals – People living in poverty, unemployed youth, persons with disabilities, rural dwellers, and individuals unable to afford legal representation or court-related costs.
Secondary Beneficiaries are individuals and institutions that will indirectly benefit from the project:
- Families and Communities: When members access justice and resolve disputes fairly, it promotes family stability, social cohesion, and community trust in the justice system.
- Community Leaders and Chiefs: Through sensitization, they will gain better understanding of human rights principles and fair justice practices, improving local dispute resolution processes.
- Law Enforcement Agencies and Judiciary: Police officers, magistrates, and court officials will benefit from improved collaboration with legal aid providers, leading to more transparent and rights-based law enforcement.
- Civil Society and Advocacy Groups – Partner organizations will benefit from shared resources, capacity building, and coordinated advocacy efforts.
