Queen’s Counsel Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales Visits Sierra Leone
The President of Sierra Leone His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, was pleased to welcome Mr. Keir Starmer who is the head of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Revenue and Customs Prosecution office, to state house on Wednesday 3rd March 2010.
Mr. Starmer together with Patrick Stevens and Nicola Saunders, from the International division of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were present in Freetown on the second leg of their visit to West Africa.
The UK delegation is in Freetown because Sierra Leone is viewed as a nation that has the potential to provide leadership in the development of sub-Saharan jurisprudence; and the fight against transnational crime, which refers to crime that takes place and affects many countries, across national borders.
Sierra Leone not only shares close cultural and historical links with Britain but is seen as a crucial partner with Britain in the fight to disrupt and destroy narcotics routes that flow through western Africa.
The CPS view Sierra Leone as such a strategic posting, that a lawyer, Mr. Antony Salmon, has been seconded to work with the Attorney General’s office as a criminal justice advisor.
Whilst in Freetown Mr. Starmer and his delegation were also able to meet the Lady Chief Justice Umu Hawa Tejan Jalloh and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Honourable Abdul Serry Kamal.
Keir Starmer is a barrister who became the fourteenth Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the sixth head of the Crown Prosecution Service. Prior to taking up this pivotal role at the head of the prosecution service, Keir Starmer was a leading lawyer and joint head of his chambers.
Having an impressive record of achievement in representing clients, many of which involved human rights issues, Mr. Starmer established himself as one of the foremost legal minds in Britain.
His representation on Privy Council cases resulted in the abolition of the death penalty in many Caribbean jurisdictions. Mr. Starmer is also no stranger to Africa, having advised and represented clients who were subject to the death penalty in African nations.
Crime neither respects borders nor boundaries and mutual activities such as this visit serve to emphasise that the burden of fighting to safeguard our communities and bring wrongdoers to justice will be borne, not by Sierra Leone alone, but also by partners who share a common interest.
Mr. Antony Salmon, Criminal Justice Adviser, Office of the Attorney General, FreetownStay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
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