By Ramatoulie Jawo
Chief Justice Hassan B Jallow, speaking at the National Dialogue held on Friday, emphasized the need to accelerate legal reforms through the Law Reform Commission. He stressed the importance of making laws more relevant to current challenges and aspirations, while also underscoring the ongoing effort to establish a new constitutional framework.
“We must intensify our efforts to review our laws through the Law Reform Commission, to make them more relevant and responsive to our challenges and aspirations. Above all, we must not give up on our goal of putting in place a new constitutional framework that promises better governance for our nation,” he said.
Asserting the significant progress made in crafting a draft constitution, Justice Jallow underscored the necessity of perseverance amidst divergent perspectives.
“ All stakeholders should be prepared to make the necessary compromises and accommodations to enable us to revive the process to have a new constitution for The Gambia, thus the whole range of state institutions which are implicated in the governance process ought to be the subject of intensive capacity building and public support to enable them to contribute more effectively to the discharge of their respective mandates,” he said.
Justice Jallow underscored the need for investment in robust crime prevention and law enforcement strategies, emphasizing that crime infringes upon citizens’ fundamental rights.
“The constitutional obligations of legal justice for individuals must be enforced more effectively. The constitutional promise of social justice in the Directive Principles in relation to education, health, employment, safe environment, gender equality, etc must be sirened to concrete reality,” he said.
He further highlighted the obligation for individuals to respect one another without prejudice, fostering relations that promote mutual respect, tolerance, social solidarity, and the preservation of African cultural values through dialogue and consultation.