Sierra Leone will begin implementing a new Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) 2024 on 16 September 2025, marking the most significant overhaul of the country’s criminal justice system in six decades.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by Alpha Sesay Esq., the country’s youngest Attorney General and Minister of Justice, who described the law as a tool to make justice “more efficient, transparent and accountable—one that does not criminalize poverty and status.”
The new Act repeals and replaces the 1965 Criminal Procedure Act, introducing reforms to speed up trials, reduce arbitrary detention, and strengthen protections for victims and witnesses. It abolishes Preliminary Investigations, requiring magistrates to decide within 28 days whether to commit a case to the High Court, and encourages alternatives to imprisonment for certain offences. Jury trials for capital offences have also been eliminated, a change seen as overdue following the abolition of the death penalty in 2022.
For the first time, victims are given procedural rights to information, participation, and protection, while indigent defendants are guaranteed state-funded legal representation. The law also allows for electronic evidence, remote hearings, and digital case management systems to modernize Sierra Leone’s courts.
Legal experts say the Act addresses long-standing problems of delay and prison overcrowding caused by arbitrary bail denials and duplicated proceedings. Its implementation is expected to reduce the remand population, lower state costs, and improve confidence in the justice system.
Observers note that the reforms align Sierra Leone with international human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and send a signal to international partners and investors that the country is committed to rule of law and good governance.
The Judiciary has urged citizens, lawyers, and civil society groups to familiarize themselves with the 163-page Act ahead of its commencement.
