AdvocAid versus the Government of Sierra Leone: Amnesty International submits third-party intervention to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice 

On March 22, 2023, Amnesty International submitted a third-party intervention to the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the case of AdvocAid (Applicants) v The Republic of Sierra Leone (Respondent) regarding the criminal proscription of ‘loitering’ in Sierra Leone. 

AdvocAid, an organization fighting for women’s rights in Sierra Leone, had filed a case in the ECOWAS Community of Justice against the government of Sierra Leone to have the country’s loitering laws repealed. Amnesty International’s report highlighted that the criminalization of loitering is discriminatory and contrary to the right to dignity. 

The applicants are claiming that loitering laws and their application unfairly target people living in poverty and subject them to punishment for potential, rather than actual, harmful acts. These laws often result in arbitrary arrests and detention, in violation of the rights to liberty and security of a person. 

The applicants are also arguing that these laws discriminate against women, who are often subject to gender-based violence when law enforcement officials arrest and detain them based on loitering laws. 

In recent years, international and regional human rights mechanisms have recommended states decriminalize petty offences, including loitering, as they are incompatible with human rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Amnesty International’s third-party intervention highlighted that the criminalization of loitering is not consistent with international and regional human rights law and standards regarding the decriminalization of petty offences and does not comply with the principles of proportionality, legal clarity, and non-discrimination. 

The criminal proscription of loitering and other petty offences remains in force in 33 countries across the African continent, including Sierra Leone, and was introduced by the English and French colonial powers to protect ‘public order’.