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Paralegals and the Provision of Justice Services: Timap for Justice in Sierra Leone
Paralegals and the Provision of
Justice Services:
Timap for Justice in Sierra Leone
The Sierra Leonean Context
Patrimonialism and the Rule of Big Men
A Dualist Legal System
Concentration of lawyers and formal legal system in the
capital
Customary system more relevant to majority, largely
autonomous
The Persistence of Violence
A Failed Social Infrastructure
A need for both state-centered reforms and
efforts which work directly with poor
Sierra Leoneans.
What might direct justice services look like
in this context?
An experimental response: A frontline of
community-based paralegals who are in turn
trained and supported by lawyers.
Features of Timap’s Methodology:
An emphasis on empowerment
Litigation and the color of law
Synthetic orientation toward the dualist legal
structure
Scaling Up
Recognition from World Bank ($1 mil. Grant), UN
Commission on Legal Empowerment, President Carter,
Transparency International, International Crisis Group
Replication in Liberia and elsewhere
A national approach to justice services in SL
Legislative recognition
Training
Standards and quality control
Sustainable funding?
Entrepreneurial Lessons
An intervention should respond to its context.
The importance of organizational culture.
Results first, recognition will follow.
Maintaining an experimental spirit.
What role for public values in private
enterprise?
