Alumni in Focus

Honorable Justice Silla

High Court Justice of the Gambia

We are proud to place the spotlight on honorable Justice Silla from the Gambia Judicial Force. She was happy to share her RTC experience with the Alumni network community. This is what she had to share with the RTC alumni community:

I have been a judge at the High Court of The Gambia since 2009. Interestingly, this is my first training at the RTC. The environment here is very conducive and comfortable and makes learning a wonderful experience. I have been very impressed with everything about the RTC; the facility, the staff, instructors, etc. The method of training delivery is exceptional. There is no doubt that the RTC is a world class training facility.

Honorable Justice Silla (with the microphone) during an Anti-corruption course in August

I have learnt so much from this training delivery on Anti-Corruption for judges and prosecutors. For the first time, I had a better understanding of the importance of judicial and prosecution independence which is very crucial in the fight against public corruption. Also, one thing that struck me during the course was the emphasis placed on some investigative methods used in gathering evidence such as the taking of pictures and video recording.

This training has taught me the best practices and techniques used to get relevant information from suspects and witnesses. I appreciated the fact that I got to learn and understand the judicial processes and systems from law enforcement officials from neighboring countries present during the training.

Participants welcomed the idea of working together with other agencies

The experienced instructor team stressed the need for “interagency collaboration”. We were made to understand that the fight against corruption can only be won through joint efforts between all law enforcement agencies. However, collaboration between investigators, prosecutors and judges can really speed up the judicial process with regards to corruption cases. Investigators should always involve and share information with prosecutors in an investigation process. The flow of information amongst investigators and prosecutors puts all parties involved on the same page and make the trial process very easy.

I would like to say a big thank you to the Director of the RTC for facilitating this training behalf on behalf of the US government. My only recommendation is that, for future courses that involve judges, we could work harder to get prosecutors and investigators on board in order exchange ideas and better understand the necessary processes involved.