Post a comment
Justice Adrian Fisher’s decision to recuse/threatening to recuse himself from the APC Vs. Alfred Peter Conteh Case is not only unprecedented and reckless, but it may also be the beginning of a declaration of war in Sierra Leone.
The test for Recusal by a judge is a reasonable apprehension of bias. This is a principle in all the English law cases dealing with Recusal. In this said APC case, there is no Application for Recusal by either party.
Even Sierra Leone case law and jurisprudence are evident on the test for recusal by a judge:
In an application to recuse a judge from hearing the matter because of his previous political affiliations, Hon. Mr. Justice Sengu Koroma (JSC), after a brilliant exposition of the law, had this to say on page 18, in the celebrated Constituency 110 political case of Kadie Kallon (Nee Davis) and Josephine H.M. Jackson (2020):
“Judges MUST only recuse themselves where the case against them is properly made out. They should resist the temptation to recuse themselves simply because it is comfortable to do so. Another way of putting this point is that THE RULE IS A RULE OF LAW and confers NO DISCRETION ON THE JUDGE. If the case crosses the line, the judge must not hear the case. If it does not do so, the judge cannot decline to do so”.
Consequently, it is unprecedented and breathtaking to hear that a judge, apparently supported by our judiciary, will recuse himself from a very important case like this on the basis of “Adebayor eeee mamy cuss.”
Adebayor is neither an APC Party member nor is there any evidence to prove that he is being directed or paid by the APC Party. A whole learned judge can be this feeble threaten to rescue himself because an individual who is not a resident in Sierra Leone nor a member of the third accused (the APC Party) can subject the Sierra Leone Judiciary to intercontinental mockery.
