The Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board, Ms. Claire Carlton-Hanciles told Parliamentarians on Wednesday, July 8, that the Legal Aid Board will assign paralegals to chiefdoms across the country to monitor Local Courts. 'The importance of these Courts cannot be over-emphasized. They service eighty percent of cases in the country. The reason for this is simple, they are conducted in the community and use the local language,' she noted.
She further told MPs that she will be assigning paralegals to all the thirty-six police stations in Freetown to ensure rights of suspects are protected. 'Once Paralegals are assigned to police stations, suspects will have the right to demand they speak with them before they are detained' she stressed.
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