Sierra Leone 1991 Constitution (reinstated 1996, reviewed 2013)

CHAPTER XII. THE LAWS OF SIERRA LEONE

170. The Laws of Sierra Leone

1. The laws of Sierra Leone shall comprise—
   1. this Constitution;
   2. laws made by or under the authority of Parliament as established by this Constitution;
   3. any orders, rules, regulations and other statutory instruments made by any person or authority pursuant to a power conferred in that behalf by this Constitution or any other law;
   4. the existing law; and
   5. the common law.
2. The common law of Sierra Leone shall comprise the rules of law generally known as the common law, the rules of law generally known as the doctrines of equity, and the rules of customary law including those determined by the Superior Court of Judicature.
3. For the purposes of this section the expression “customary law” means the rules of law which by custom are applicable to particular communities in Sierra Leone.
4. The existing law shall, save as otherwise provided in subsection (1), comprise the written and unwritten laws of Sierra Leone as they existed immediately before the date of the coming into force of this Constitution and any statutory instrument issued or made before that date which is to come into force on or after that date.
5. Subject to the provisions of this section, the operation of the existing laws after the coming into force of this Constitution shall not be affected by such commencement; and accordingly the existing law shall be construed with such modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as may be necessary to bring it into conformity with the provisions of this Constitution or otherwise to give effect to or enable effect to be given to any changes effected by this Constitution.
6. Every statutory instrument shall be published in the Gazette not later than twenty- eight days after it is made or, in the case of a statutory instrument which will not have the force of law unless it is approved by some person or authority other than the person or authority by which it is made, not later than twenty-eight days after it is approved, and if it is not so published it shall be void from the date on which it was made.
7. Any orders, rules or regulations made by any person or authority pursuant to a power conferred in that behalf by this Constitution or any other law—
   1. shall be laid before Parliament;
   2. shall be published in the Gazette on or before the day they are so laid before Parliament;
   3. shall come into force at the expiration of a period of twenty-one days of being so laid unless Parliament, before the expiration of the said period of twenty-one days, annuls any such orders, rules or regulations by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the Members of Parliament.