Sesay & Kamara v The State
Supreme Court overturned the imposition of the death sentence; confession statements; whether death sentence mandatory; principles of stare decisis. Supreme Court of Sierra Leone, 12 December 1984
This was a very important and instructive decision handed down Livesey Luke CJ which covered:
the importance of holding a voir dire in a jury trial to determine the admissibility of a confession when the accused claims that it was involuntary;
whether or not the words “shall be liable” gave the court discretion over whether or not to hand down the death sentence;
the application of the rules of stare decisis in Sierra Leone and s 107(3) of the Sierra Leone Constitution.
This case highlights the criticality of law reporting in Sierra Leone and the fundamental importance of the Sierra Leone Law Reports project to the ongoing application and development of the rule of law. The ability of courts to adhere to and apply the principles of stare decisis depend on the availability of reported decisions. In this case, the failure of the Court of Appeal to consider Fornah’s case, which was unreported at the time (subsequently reported in [1974-82] 1 SLBALR Vol 1 and to be republished in the Sierra Leone Law Reports) led to the Court of Appeal incorrectly holding that the death sentence was mandatory and imposing the death sentence on the appellants. Fortunately for the accused in this case, this was overturned by the Supreme Court.
Reported by Victoria Strasser-King & Anthony P Kinnear
To read, print, share the full judgment: Sesay & Kamara v The State