Sierra Leone News: Rights Groups Call for Decriminalisation of Petty Offenses

By Maraima Sesay

AdvocAid and the Centre for Accountability and Rule of law (CARL) have on September 26, 2019, launched a position paper calling for petty offences to be decriminalised in order to reduce overcrowding in correctional center.

Presenting the finding of a study which was supported by the Open Society Initiatives for West Africa, the Executive Director of AdvocAid, Rebecca Wood said that petty offences are minor offences for which the punishment is a warning, community service, a low-value fine or short term imprisonment.

She said that a research conducted by AdvocAid and Carl in 2017, which monitored 718 cases in police stations and courts in several cities, found out that 33 percent of offences were petty offences, adding that most frequent petty offences seen were the non-payment of debt (under charge of fraudulent conversion or obtaining by false pretenses), loitering and minor traffic offences.

She said they are calling on the Government of Sierra Leone to decriminalize loitering offences and non-payment of debt offences, and to reform sanctions for minor traffic offences and the laws that relate to petty offences. She said that the ways in which these laws are enforced have many human right and economic implementations.

She stated that petty offence cases place a heavy burden on the police, courts and correctional Centre, adding that if decriminalized this would create financial saving for the police and courts and reduce overcrowding in correctional centers. She said that arrest and imprisonment for petty offences disproportionately affects poor and marginalized people.

Wood said that they found that more than 90 percent of adults charged with petty offences were unemployed or in-low paid work, and many work or live in public spaces, relied on loans to sustain their businesses and were unable to pay fines, which contributed to the risk of coming into conflict with the law for a petty offence.

She encouraged stakeholders such as the Chief Justice, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Inspector General of Police, the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, the Law Reform Commission, and the Human Rights Commission to consider their recommendations for decriminalization of loitering offence and non-payment of debt offences and the reform of sanctions for minor traffic offences. She said that if the recommendations are implemented, Sierra Leone would join countries across the continent that are taking steps towards meaningful reform of petty offences.

According to Executive Director of the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law, Ibrahim Tommy, the criminalization of petty offences contributes to discrimination and marginalization by criminalizing poverty, homeless and unemployment, which impacts the poorest and most marginalized persons in communities.

He said legal systems must be reformed and modernized so they are approachable, innovative, inclusive, people centered and uphold human rights.