Two Sierra Leonean Judges Appointed To The Residual Special Court

Justices Eldred Taylor-Camara and Miatta Maria Samba were today sworn in as members of the Residual Special Court’s 16-member Roster of Judges. In a ceremony held at the newly-opened and refurbished Peace Museum, each subscribed before RSCSL President Justice Jon Kamanda to the Solemn Declaration, laid out under Rule 14(A) to serve “honestly, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously” as a Judge of the RSCSL.
The RSCSL was established by an agreement between the United Nations (UN) and the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) to carry on the continuing legal obligations of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Under the RSCSL Statute, ten of the judges are appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the remaining six by the Government of Sierra Leone. Justices Taylor-Camara and Samba were appointed by the Government. They replace Justices Vivian Margarette Solomon and Abdulai Hamid Charm.
Today’s ceremony was witnessed by Minister of Justice and Attorney-General Dr. Priscilla Schwartz representing the Government of Sierra Leone and RSCSL Registrar Binta Mansaray, representing the United Nations. Justice Kamanda welcomed the new judges to the Residual Special Court, and said he was confident that they would contribute to carrying out the mandate of the Court. Dr. Priscilla Schwartz congratulated them and said their selection had not been a difficult choice because they had both had distinguished careers.
Justice Eldred Taylor-Camara has been a Judge of Sierra Leone’s Court of Appeal since 2017. From 1982 to 2016 he was a lawyer in private practice in Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom. He received a BA in Law from the Chelmer Institute in the UK and a Degree of Utter Barrister from the Inns of Court School of Law, Gray’s Inn, London. He received a Master’s degree from Middlesex University.
Justice Miatta Maria Samba was named a Judge of Sierra Leone’s High Court in 2015 and has been a Judge of the Sierra Leone Court of Appeals since February 2019. From 2010 to 2012 and from 2014 to 2015 she was a prosecutor for the Anti-Corruption Commission, and from 2011 to 2015 she worked as a consultant with Sierra Leone’s Law Reform Commission. From 2014 to 2015 she was a lawyer in private practice.
From 2002 to 2006 she worked at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Office of the Prosecutor, and from 2006 to 2010 she was a Field Operations Officer for the International Criminal Court. She has also lectured at Fourah Bay College from 2003 to 2006 (Contract Law) and from 2017 to present (Criminal Law).
Justice Samba holds an LLB degree from Fourah Bay College and a BL degree from the Sierra Leone Law School. She was called to the Bar in 1999. She also holds LLM degrees from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and the University of Dundee in Scotland. Justices Taylor-Camara and Samba join (GoSL appointees) Justices John Bankole Thompson, Jon Kamanda (president), Emmanuel Ekundayo Roberts and Desmond Babatunde Edwards, and (UN appointees) Justices Richard Brunt Lussick, Pierre G. Boutet, Renate Winter, Teresa Anne Doherty, Shireen Avis Fisher, Philip Nyamu Waki, Elizabeth Ibamda Nahamya, Oagile Bethuel Key Dingake, Andrew John Hatton, and Isaak Lenaola. RSCSL Justices serve without remuneration unless called upon to work. They are paid on a pro rata basis.