Sierra Leone Correctional Service Act, 2014
An Act transforming the former prisons department into the Sierra Leone Correctional Service and reforming the law on the treatment of prisoners.
Summary
The Sierra Leone Correctional Service Act, 2014 reconstituted the former Prisons Department as the Sierra Leone Correctional Service, shifting the emphasis from mere custody to correction, rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.
The Act provides for the establishment, organisation, command and discipline of the Correctional Service, the administration and management of correctional centres (prisons), the custody, treatment, welfare and rehabilitation of inmates, and the rights and conditions of detention consistent with human-rights standards. It provides for programmes to prepare offenders for reintegration and for the role of correctional officers.
It modernised the law in line with international standards on the treatment of prisoners.
Main provisions
- Reconstitutes the Prisons Department as the Sierra Leone Correctional Service.
- Provides for its organisation, command and discipline.
- Provides for the administration and management of correctional centres.
- Provides for the custody, treatment, welfare and rehabilitation of inmates.
- Sets conditions of detention consistent with human-rights standards.
- Provides for rehabilitation and reintegration programmes.