National Level Dialogue on Prolonged Pre trial Detention in Liberia

BRIDGING THE GAP: FROM COMMUNITIES TO NATIONAL POLICY

This August, SAWABENU took access to justice from the community level to the national stage.

DISTRICT DIALOGUES | August 18 - 21, 2026 Compound/Lackay Town • Cotton Tree • Careysburg • Brewerville

We convened face-to-face dialogues between statutory and customary justice actors, magistrates, city solicitors, police commanders, chiefs, and community members across Margibi and Rural Montserrado Counties under the Democracy Advancement Program (DAP). Community members spoke candidly. They asked why courts set hearing times at 10 AM but keep citizens waiting until 4 PM. They questioned why city solicitors charge fees for services that should be free. They called out the cycle of adjournments that forces families to spend money traveling to court repeatedly for cases that never move. Police commanders acknowledged their challenges: lack of vehicles, stationery, and manpower while pledging free service delivery. In Careysburg, Magistrate Victoria Duncan stated clearly: city solicitors should not be taking money from plaintiffs. The Police Commander echoed: the LNP provides free services. These are public commitments from justice actors made in front of their communities.

NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON PRETRIAL JUSTICE REFORM | August 27, 2026 Ministry of Justice, Monrovia

We then elevated these community voices to the national level. SAWABENU convened a National Dialogue on Pretrial Justice Reform, bringing together the Ministry of Justice, the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Public Defense Office, INCHR, UNDP, Prison Fellowship Liberia, AFELL, SGBV Rural, JPC, the Press Union of Liberia, the Parole and Probation Office, and civil society actors.

The numbers are sobering. 80% of inmates have never met a lawyer. 9% of pretrial detainees have never been to court. A woman spent 4 months in prison for stealing a pot worth $8. Juveniles are detained for over 6 months for minor offenses. But the dialogue was not about numbers alone; it was about solutions.

Actionable recommendations emerged, including: 

• Strengthening court monitoring to identify bottlenecks 

• Greater use of Section 13.5 of the Criminal Procedure Law by magistrates

•  Revitalizing the fast-track case process 

•  Passage of the Legal Aid Bill and ADR reforms 

• Strengthening re-entry and reintegration programs

A Technical Working Group comprising SAWABENU, AFELL, BCR, JPC, the Public Defense Office, and SGBV Rural has been established to follow up within two weeks.

Participants also called for a Phase 2 of the national dialogue, quarterly coordination meetings among justice actors, and a constitutional review of bail provisions for capital offenses.

From Cotton Tree to the Ministry of Justice: the law exists, and we are working to make it work for everyone.

The district dialogues and national dialogue were implemented under Outcome 3 of the Democracy Advancement Program (DAP) Phase Two, supported by Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia through NAYMOTE-Liberia.