Honorable Hassan B Jallow, the nation’s Chief Justice has said the judiciary is committed to ensuring access of justice to Gambians.
CJ Jallow was speaking at the annual Judiciary Colloquium on international criminal justice held at Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Centre in Bijilo recently.
“The judiciary remains strongly committed to ensuring that there is access to justice for everyone or victims who feel aggrieved. Justice for victims of violations is necessary and important for peace and reconciliation,” he said.
“What goes into each of these three pillars needs to be determined by the respective public authorities in a consultative manner with stakeholders to reflect national aspirations. The choices will not be easy. The road ahead will be challenging. Whatever choice we make must be transparent and objective. The judiciary is central to the pillar of accountability, and we must as an institution begin to prepare ourselves for this task,” he added.
“The TRRC report has heightened public expectation of justice from the judiciary. The Gambia judiciary has played a crucial role in upholding the fundamental human rights of citizens as enshrined in the constitution and other regional and international instruments and mechanisms to which The Gambia is a party,” Justice Hassan Jallow explained.
According to him, ensuring justice for Two Million people (Gambians), in the context of transitional justice, will be a challenging task primarily because the Gambia judiciary will have to deal with a range of systematic allegations over an extended period.
“With the conclusion of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) mandate, submission of its report to Government and the pending release of the White Paper by the executive arm of Government, the country stand at a historic but challenging moment. The road ahead will be no less challenging, no less difficult. Even as reconciliation continues to be the national goal and objective but must be on the very solid pillars of truth telling, forgiveness and accountability,” he expressed.
