UN Refurbishes Napoleonic Era Court
UN Refurbishes Napoleonic Era Court Burned Down By Rebels In
Sierra
Leone
New York, Jul 20 2005 5:00PM
A Sierra
Leonean court that was established in 1819 for the trial
of
ex-combatants after the Napoleonic war in England but
was burned down 180
years later by rebels in the West
African country's civil war has been
renovated and
refurbished by the United Nations.
Commissioning the
rehabilitated Waterloo Magistrates Court
yesterday,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special
Representative, Daudi Ngelautwa
Mwakawago, described the
project as a beacon for the enhancement of the
rule of
law and dispensation of justice.
The rehabilitation of the
building was undertaken by Pakistani Engineers
of the UN
Mission in Sierra Leone
(UNAMSIL)
under
the Quick Impact Project programme.
Mr. Mwakawago
expressed concern about the delay in court proceedings
in
the country, adding: "Justice delayed is justice
denied." He urged the
judiciary to conduct speedy trials
to prevent overcrowding in cells and
unwarranted
adjournments. Set up by the Security Council in 1999 to
help
Sierra Leone recover after a peace agreement ended a
decade of civil war,
UNAMSIL was renewed for a final six
months on 30
June.
ENDS