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The High Court of Sierra Leone, presided over by Justice A. T. Ganda, JA, has declined to hear an application filed by Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah and others seeking to halt the Sierra Leone Bar Association (SLBA) elections on Wednesday.
The ruling allows the SLBA’s extraordinary general meeting to proceed at 3:00 PM today, December 10, 2025, for the purpose of nominating and electing representatives to the General Legal Council (GLC).
Procedural Dispute Stalls Application The legal challenge, brought by the 1st Defendant, Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah, sought an interim order to restrain the SLBA and Tuma Adama Jabbi (the Plaintiffs) from holding the scheduled meeting. The application also sought to maintain the status quo by allowing current SLBA members in the General Legal Council to continue acting as representatives pending further court orders.
However, when the defense sought to move the motion, the Plaintiffs objected, arguing that they had not been given the mandatory “two clear days’ notice.” The Plaintiffs stated they were served with the application only on Monday, December 8, for a hearing scheduled the following morning.
Defense Argues for Discretion In response, the Defendants argued that they attempted to serve the application on Friday, December 5—the same day the affidavit was sworn—at 3:00 PM, but were unable to do so until 9:00 AM on Monday due to the unavailability of the Plaintiffs.
Counsel for Marrah reminded the court of a precedent set in July 2024 involving the same matter, where a similar inter partes application from the Plaintiffs was heard discretionarily without the required two days’ notice. The defense argued that fairness dictated they benefit from the same judicial discretion.
Relying on the Supreme Court authority CIV. APP. 4/2007 (Basma and Wanza), the defense urged the court not to prioritize procedural rules at the expense of justice. They requested an interim order to pause the election and preserve the status quo.
The Ruling Despite these appeals, Justice Ganda refused to grant the interim order or hear the application on its merits, upholding the objection regarding the notice period. Consequently, the SLBA election for GLC representatives will proceed as scheduled.
