Sierra Leone’s Chief Justice, His Lordship Honourable Justice Komba Kamanda, has assured of the Judiciary’s preparedness to embrace technology as an enabler of justice and a tool for enhancing access to information.

Delivering his keynote address on the theme, “AI, Justice and the Rule of Law,” the Honourable Chief Justice said Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept reserved for laboratories or technology companies.

“It is increasingly becoming part of how governments communicate, how citizens access information, how institutions manage knowledge, and how justice institutions can improve the delivery of justice,” said the Honourable Chief Justice.

According to him, the Judiciary has a fundamental responsibility to ensure that justice is not only done, but is also accessible, understandable and trusted by the people it serves.

He added that the emergence of AI tools has enabled judiciaries across the world to improve access to judgments and legal materials, support legal research, facilitate public access to court information, improve case management systems, and make judicial services more accessible to citizens.

Reaffirming the Judiciary’s preparedness to embrace the future, Honourable Chief Justice Kamanda said they must enter that future guided by its constitutional and institutional responsibilities.

He stressed the need for a justice system that is not only technologically enabled, but also open, accessible, transparent, human-centred and firmly anchored in the rule of law.

In his welcome address, the Chief Director and Professional Head of the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation. Mohamed Moumini Jalloh, said AI is rapidly transforming how governments operate, how institutions manage information, and how citizens access public services.

For Sierra Leone, he said, the question is no longer whether AI is coming, but how the country prepares to harness it responsibly and inclusively, in ways that deliver tangible benefits to its people.

The Deputy Minister of Justice, Madam Saptieu E. Saccoh, affirmed her Ministry’s commitment to working collaboratively with relevant institutions to promote the responsible adoption and use of AI.

The UNESCO Director for Inclusion, Policies and Digital Transformation, Mr. Guilherme Canela, said UNESCO’s focus is to train and support the training of justice sector professionals in the application of AI tools in courts and tribunals.

To achieve this, he said, UNESCO has developed guidelines for the use of AI in courts and tribunals, which he described as the first globally oriented ethical and operational framework of its kind.

Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Wednesday, 28th October 2026 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)