The Lawyers’ Society has called for the unconditional release of Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, while the General Legal Council has criticised his courtroom conduct but also urged the Supreme Court to reconsider his imprisonment.
Two legal bodies in Sierra Leone have urged the Supreme Court to reconsider the imprisonment of senior lawyer Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, who was committed to prison for contempt during a hearing on proposed constitutional amendments.
The Lawyers’ Society has called for Kamara’s unconditional release and a reconsideration of the contempt proceedings against him, saying his public apology should be considered in the context of his long service to the legal profession.
The General Legal Council (GLC), which regulates legal practitioners, has also called for the court to reconsider the custodial punishment. However, it criticised Kamara’s conduct during the proceedings, describing it as discourteous and damaging to the image of the legal profession.
Kamara, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, was sent to prison after Chief Justice Komba Kamanda rejected his apology over remarks made during the first day of the Supreme Court hearing.
The Chief Justice ordered him to remove his lawyer’s wig and enter the dock before the court imposed the punishment.
The hearing concerns legal challenges to the process through which Sierra Leone’s proposed constitutional amendments were passed, including disputes over the parliamentary procedures and majority required to amend the 1991 Constitution.
In its statement, the Lawyers’ Society said Kamara had made significant contributions to the country’s legal profession through his work as a prosecutor at the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, president of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission and Attorney-General.
The Society said he had also mentored hundreds of lawyers.
It urged the Chief Justice and the Supreme Court to accept his apology, arguing that a measured response would uphold the court’s dignity while recognising the role of lawyers in the administration of justice.
The Society also warned that the confrontation should not distract attention from the constitutional questions before the court.
“The interests of justice require that the constitutional issues be determined carefully, dispassionately and without allowing collateral matters to override them,” it said.
The General Legal Council took a different approach in its statement dated 8 October, saying Kamara’s conduct over the two days of proceedings had been “quite discourteous and misrepresentative of the legal profession”.
It cited Rule 4(2) of the Legal Practitioners (Code of Conduct) Rules, 2010, which requires lawyers to act courteously and respectfully towards judges, other lawyers and those with whom they have professional dealings.
The Council said the conduct was particularly concerning because it occurred before the country’s highest court and involved the Chief Justice, who also serves as president of the Supreme Court.
Despite its criticism, the Council appealed for the custodial punishment to be reconsidered when the proceedings resumed or at another practicable time before the next hearing.
The statements highlight the tension between the court’s authority to maintain order during proceedings and calls from within the legal profession for reconsideration of the punishment imposed on one of its senior members.
The Supreme Court is expected to determine the substantive constitutional challenges separately from the immediate controversy surrounding Kamara’s conduct.
The outcome of the cases could have significant implications for Sierra Leone’s constitutional framework and the rules governing future elections.
