Gender Unit
Juvenile Justice Unit
Litigation Unit
Transitional Justice Unit

Freetown Office
Bo Office
Makeni Office
Kenema Office

Projects
Internships
Publications
Support LAWCLA
Front Page

LAWCLA Launches 5 Handbooks and 3 Training Manuals
The Lawyers Centre For Legal Assistance (LAWCL) in collaboration with the Forum for African Educationists and the Fifty Fifty (50|50) Group will today 11th February 2009 formally launched 5 Simplified Handbooks on the recently passed Gender laws and Child Rights Act of 2007 .

It will be re called that in 2003 LAWCLA did a research on Discriminatory laws in Sierra Leone and published a Handbook entitled “Unequal Rights: Discriminatory Laws Against Women in Sierra Leone”. The purpose of the Handbook was to sensitize members of the public and the Government about the existence of Discriminatory Laws in the Statute Books of Sierra Leone and galvanize support for law reform.

In 2005, LAWCLA, FAWE, and 50/50 Group published a simplified and abridged version of the 2003 handbook and used it in consultation with civil society and human rights groups as well as Government institutions such as the Law Reform Commission and The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee to advocate and lobby for Law Reform.

As a result of the above mentioned consultations, Parliament enacted Four Gender Laws which repealed some of the discriminatory laws.

LAWCLA also in 2006 did a research and published a handbook entitled “Juvenile Justice in Sierra Leone: Law and Practice”. This handbook was used by LAWCLA to advocate for reform of the Laws relating to children in Sierra Leone. The advocacy contributed to the enactment of the Child Right’s Act of 2007.

Our consortium is cognizant of efforts by other groups to simplify the Gender Laws and conduct trainings throughout Sierra Leone and is therefore inviting such groups to use our handbooks and training manuals without any restriction.

Finally LAWCLA and its Partners will soon be conducting Public Education and Training Programs on the content of the Gender Acts and The Child Right’s Act throughout Sierra Leone and invite other groups and institutions to collaborate in the exercise in order to avoid a duplication of activities.