AdvocAid’s “Pay No Bribe for Bail” campaign was a national awareness raising campaign aimed at educating people across Sierra Leone not to pay bribes to courts or police stations to secure bail.

During our years of delivering legal aid services in Sierra Leone, we have become aware of many incidents where people are asked for a bribe when trying to access bail at the police station or at court. This national campaign aimed to address this.

Funded by the Access to Justice and Security Programme and endorsed by the Anti-Crime Commission, the campaign included: national radio and television infomercials; posters displayed at police stations, courts and public venues; a social media campaign; and the distribution of wristbands – all conveying the message that no one should pay a bribe for bail.

To launch the campaign, we released a briefing paper highlighting the severity of corruption not only within the bail system in Sierra Leone, but countrywide. Download your copy of the briefing paper.

For Sierra Leone, corruption within the legal system is unfortunately an endemic and widespread problem. In 2017, it scored 30 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (0 being very corrupt and 100 very clean) and in the same year it ranked 130 out of 180 in a survey that measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide.

There is widespread belief that a sum of money must officially be paid to secure bail in Sierra Leone; inability to pay these bribes results in prolonged pre-trial detention, overcrowding in police and prison cells, and human rights abuses.

Women in Sierra Leone are often unfairly disadvantaged in such situations due to low education levels and living on the poverty line. When confronted with information that they must pay for bail, most women cannot afford it and so spend month’s needlessly behind bars, unable to work or look after their family.

The “Pay No Bribe for Bail” Civil Society Coalition members include: Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law, Namati, Prison Watch, Timap for Justice, Sierra Leone Bar Association and Defence for Children. They provided input to the design of the campaign and were actively involved in delivering the legal education messages.

Read the Press Release and if your organisation is interested in continuing this campaign, please contact us. We are keen to engage as many organisations as possible!