Court of Appeal Overturns High Court Ruling in Landmark Human Rights and Environmental Case

The Court of Appeal of Sierra Leone have delivered a significant judgment in the matter of Aiah Fengai & 73 Others v. Octea Limited & Others, overturning a prior High Court decision that had struck out the plaintiffs’ claims for lack of jurisdiction.

Sierra Leone Court of Appeal, through a press statement dated, Friday 31st of october, 2025, has judge the matter of Aiah Fengai & 73 Others v. Octea Limited & Others.

The case involves 74 class plaintiffs, 14 other class plaintiffs and 9 individual plaintiffs all residents of Kono District, who had initially filed multiple writs of summons against Octea Limited and other associated parties, alleging a wide range of environmental, economic, and personal harms arising from the defendants’ mining operations.

These claims included allegations of unlawful deprivation of property, environmental degradation, economic displacement, and emotional distress. The writs were consolidated into one action at the High

In a unanimous ruling delivered by a three-member panel of Justices of the Court of Appeal presided over by Justice Fynn, the Court found that the High Court had erred in law when it ruled that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to bring the case and granted an interlocutory injunction freezing the companies’ assets.

The case will now return to the High Court for trial.