By:
Robert Kwaku Annor
Sierra Leone’s Judiciary and
the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice will partner with
UNESCO to develop a national artificial intelligence (AI) roadmap for the
justice sector, beginning with the security sector.
The initiative was announced
following a Post-Conference Mixer on AI, Justice and the Rule of Law, convened
by the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in collaboration
with UNESCO and the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation.
The event brought together
stakeholders from the justice sector, government, civil society and development
partners as part of the 2026 commemoration of the International Day for the
Universal Access to Information.
In his keynote address,
Chief Justice Komba Kamanda outlined the justice sector’s stake in the
country’s digital and AI transformation agenda.
UNESCO’s Guilherme Canela
drew on the organisation’s Guidelines for the Use of AI Systems in Courts
and Tribunals, which place human rights protection and open justice at the
centre of AI adoption in judicial institutions.
Participants identified
opportunities to use technology to improve judicial processes, particularly
through electronic filing and digital case management. However, they cautioned
that sustainable progress would depend on an honest assessment of existing readiness
gaps.
The planned roadmap is
expected to guide the responsible integration of AI into the justice sector,
with an emphasis on transparency, human rights and the rule of law.
