Lesson 1: Constitutional and Administrative Law for Postgraduates

SUMMARY

• Independent bodies referee elected power; four design variables: appointment, tenure, funding, reporting.
• SA Chapter 9 benchmark; SL equivalents mixed constitutional/statutory; ACC runs ethics tools.

SUMMARY

• RAI Act 2013: right + Commission + exemptions; tutor’s FOI scholarship on the implementation gap.
• ACC: 2008 Act, 2019 prosecutorial independence; recovery tools; selectivity critique.
• Transparency, information, prosecution: the accountability triangle.

SUMMARY

• Forum lattice: internal, Ombudsman, tribunals, HC (s 134), SC (ss 124/28), HRCSL.
• Regulators = Part III doctrines applied; litigation strategy = forum + remedy + enforcement realism.

SUMMARY

• Surveillance checklist: statutory basis, authorisation, necessity/proportionality, retention limits, oversight.
• Analysis order: legality, proportionality, remedies; s 28 route.

SUMMARY

• SL sequence: Lomé, TRC, Special Court, unfinished review; reform as conflict prevention.
• Theory: constitutionalism vs constitutions; constituent power limits; thick/thin rule of law.

SUMMARY

• Question not topic; three marks: researchable, significant, feasible.
• Methods: doctrinal, comparative (similarity rule), empirical (ethics: consent, anonymisation).
• Case selection justified in advance; beware cherry-picking.

SUMMARY

• Structure: question-thesis-roadmap; one claim per chapter; conclusion answers.
• Meet the best counter-argument; OSCOLA mechanics; integrity and defence preparation.

A NOTE ON VERIFICATION AND CORRECTIONS

This note was compiled against the primary texts and public databases, and the following corrections to circulating class materials are recorded so that no reader repeats them. (a) Executive power is vested in the President by section 53 of the 1991 Constitution, not section 56; section 40 confers the offices and titles of the presidency.

(b) The Supreme Court’s exclusive original jurisdiction in constitutional interpretation and enforcement derives from section 124 (with referrals under s 127 and rights enforcement under s 28), not section 111. (c) Disqualifications for membership of Parliament are section 76 and vacation of seats, including cross-carpeting, section 77, not section 73, which establishes Parliament. (d) The United Kingdom’s Human Rights Act is 1998 (in force 2000), not 1989 or 1999. (e) Sierra Leone’s current local government framework is the Local Government Act 2022 (succeeding the 2004 Act); the lecture note’s "2024" is corrected. (f) The matters of Lansana Dumbuya and Zainab Sheriff are 2026 first-instance proceedings under the Public Order Act 1965 and are presented as live controversies, not as decided constitutional precedents. (g) Two authorities cited in class could not be verified in public databases and are flagged wherever they appear: Bangura v President of Sierra Leone and Kabba v Kamara (unreported); rely on the verified alternatives given in the text unless the reports are produced. (h) Nigerian law report pinpoints (NWLR citations) and certain Sierra Leonean statutory pinpoints (ss 29, 46, 50-51, 108 thresholds, Local Government Act sections) are cited at the precision the compiler could verify and should be confirmed against the reports and gazetted texts before courtroom or dissertation use.

Legislation and Constitutional Instruments

Constitution of Sierra Leone 1991 (Act No 6 of 1991)

Abolition of the Death Penalty Act 2021 (Act No 12 of 2021) (Sierra Leone)

Anti-Corruption Act 2008 (Act No 12 of 2008), as amended 2019 (Sierra Leone)

Courts Act 1965 (Act No 31 of 1965) (Sierra Leone), s 74 Customary Land Rights Act 2022 (Sierra Leone)

Cybersecurity and Crime Act 2021 (Sierra Leone)

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act 2022 (Sierra Leone)

Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone Act 2004 (Act No 9 of 2004)

Local Courts Act 2011 (Act No 10 of 2011) (Sierra Leone)

Local Government Act 2004 and Local Government Act 2022 (Sierra Leone)

National Security and Central Intelligence Act 2002 (Sierra Leone)

Ombudsman Act 1997 (Sierra Leone)

Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Sierra Leone)

Public Order Act 1965 (Act No 46 of 1965) (Sierra Leone)

Refugees Protection Act 2007 (Sierra Leone)

Right to Access Information Act 2013 (Act No 2 of 2013) (Sierra Leone)

Sierra Leone Citizenship Act 1973 (Act No 4 of 1973), as amended Sierra Leone Military Forces Act 1961 (Act No 34 of 1961)

Constitution of Kenya 2010 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 Human Rights Act 1998 (UK)

Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 (South Africa)

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation)

Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (Artificial Intelligence Act)