Like any crisis, COVID-19 has increased the pressure on our national institutions and highlighted existing cracks. Our public health system cannot do large-scale contact tracing, our schools struggle to bridge the digital divide; and our legal system cannot deliver justice to all our citizens.
Sierra Leone officially had its first case of COVID-19 on March 30, but no control measures were established to prevent the spread of the disease until March 25th when the President of Sierra Leone declared a 12-month National public health emergency to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and to guarantee the right to health for all citizens.
Although COVID-19 is a public health emergency that cannot be dealt with as a law and order problem, it was obvious that the prevailing situation was abnormal and the people’s right to access justice was impaired.
Although the WHO declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency on January 30, 2020, the courts in Sierra Leone continued to function through to the last week of March.
