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the paralegal draft a letter to a local court officer about the matter. The paralegal also approached the official, who in turn contacted the country’s customary law officer – it only had one at the time – a Freetown-based lawyer working in the office of the attorney general. When the latter visited the area, the two officials discussed the matter with the paramount chief. Perhaps persuaded by the presence of the lawyer he returned the funds and relinquished control of the case. The paralegal followed up by visiting the chief to assuage any hard feelings stemming from the incident. Timap also intervened after a paramount chief and other officials in Bumpeh-Gao chiefdom failed to persuade two NGOs to act accountably. The NGOs had failed to follow up on services they had paid local contractors to deliver to amputees who had lost limbs during the civil war. The NGOs had provided some assistance, but had not pressed the contractors to use funds for other help (building wells), allowing them to abscond with the money. A combination of meetings, letters, threats of legal action and other pressure on both the NGOs and contractors resulted in the delivery of the promised aid. How was Timap able to prevail? In the words of one of the NGO’s co-founders: ‘Though it has no statutory authority, the project has demonstrated that sometimes just the colour of law – “human rights” ID cards (issued by Timap to its personnel), typed letters on letterhead paper (in a society that is largely illiterate), knowledge of the law and, importantly, the power to litigate if push comes to shove – causes many Sierra Leoneans to treat the Timap office with respect.’18 This intimidation or persuasion will not influence a person powerful enough to ignore top officials. But many persons seeking justice in Sierra Leone and elsewhere are not going up against leading powerbrokers.
Conclusion One insight that emerges from international NJJS experience is that NGOs’ anti-corruption impact typically springs from broader efforts to improve justice, governance or development. What does this mean for international anti-corruption efforts and what should policymakers, funding agencies and NGOs do? ● There is a need for expanded donor funding for civil society engagement with NJJSs, given the importance of such systems in people’s lives. Even where such support does not target corruption, it can yield useful anti-corruption impacts. ● Much of the funding should go to NGOs and allies that work to improve NJJS as a whole, or that focus on access to justice, gender justice or other governance and development issues. Support that focuses exclusively on anti-corruption can be useful, but NGOs with broader agendas may be equally viable vehicles for good governance (including anticorruption) impact.
18 Vivek Maru, Between Law and Society: Paralegals and the Provision of Primary Justice Services in Sierra Leone (New York: Open Society Institute, 2006).