Supreme Court of Liberia

The Supreme Court of Liberia is the highest judicial body in Liberia. The court consists of the Chief Justice of Liberia, who is also the top Judiciary official,[1] and four associate justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The justices hold court at the Temple of Justice on Capitol Hill in Monrovia.[2]

Supreme Court of Liberia
Established1839
LocationMonrovia
Composition methodPresidential nomination with Senate confirmation
Authorized byConstitution of Liberia
Judge term length70 years of age
Number of positions5
Chief Justice of Liberia
CurrentlySie-A-Nyene Yuoh
Since27 September 2022
Politics of Liberia
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Elections
Political parties
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
flag Liberia portal

Article III of the Constitution of Liberia stipulates judiciary as one of the three branches of government that ought to be equal and coordinated based on the principle of checks and balances. The court was originally authorized by the 1839 Constitution of the American Colonization Society signed on 5 January 1839, while subsequent constitutions continued to authorize a supreme court, with the 1984 Constitution as the most recent version. The powers and structure of the court are determined by Article VII of the 1984 constitution. The Supreme Court is granted original jurisdiction over constitutional questions, cases in which the country is a party, and cases where ministers or ambassadors are involved by the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, as in other democratic countries, is found to be the weakest among the three arms of democracy. Trial by ordeal is prohibited by the court, but it is still practiced commonly in modern times to adjudge cases.

Jurisdiction and structure
Chief Justice Zacharia B. Roberts along with his associates
Chief Justices of Liberia[3][4][5]
Chief Justice of LiberiaTenure
Samuel Benedict1848–1856
John Day1856–1861
Boston J. Drayton1861–1864
Edward J. Roye1865–1868
Cyrus Louis Parsons1869–1894
Zachariah B. Roberts1895–1910
James Archibald Toliver1911–1913
James Jenkins Dossen1913–1924
Frederick E. R. Johnson1924–1933
Louis Arthur Grimes1933–1949
Martin Nemle Russell1950–1958
Eugene Himie Shannon1958-1958
Dash Wilson1958–1971
James A. A. Pierre1971–1980
Emmanuel M. Gbalazeh1980–1986
James N. Nagbe1986–1987
Chea Cheapoo1987
Emmanuel M. Gbalazeh1987–1990
James Henrique Pearson1992
James Garretson Bull1993–1996
Her Honor Frances Johnson Morris1997
Her Honor Gloria Musu-Scott1997–2003
Henry Reed Cooper2003–2005
Johnnie N. Lewis2006–2012
Francis Korkpor2013–2022
Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh2022–present

Article III of the Constitution of Liberia stipulates that the judiciary is one of the three branches of government that ought to be equal and coordinated based on the principle of checks and balances.[6] The court was originally authorized by the 1839 Constitution of the American Colonization Society signed on 5 January 1839.[7] Subsequent constitutions continued to authorize a supreme court, with the 1984 Constitution as the most recent version. Powers and structure of the court are determined by Article VII of the 1984 constitution.[8] The Supreme Court is granted original jurisdiction over constitutional questions, cases in which the country is a party, and for cases where ministers or ambassadors are involved by the Constitution of Liberia.[1] The court has appellate jurisdiction over other matters, with the next lowest court being the 15 Circuit Courts.[1] The Court has five members, which is headed by the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President of the country with the consent of the Senate. The Chief Justice can continue in his office up to the age of 70.[9]

Eligibility of Justices

The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia must be citizens of the country for the past ten years previous to their appointments, must be 30 years of age, counselors at law licensed to practice in the Supreme Court Bar, and engaged in the active practice of law for at least seven years prior to their appointment.[10]

There are four Associate Justices in the supreme court and they are ranked based on their order of superiority. Any three members of the five can form a quorum and when agreement is not arrived by the quorum in any case, the President of Liberia appoints an ad-hoc judge from the circuit judges based on seniority. There are five special seats of honor in the Supreme Court chambers and the center seat is reserved for the Chief Justice. The two seats immediately adjacent to the Chief Justice are occupied by Associate judges next in rank and the corner most seats on either side for the lower ranked Associates. The seat of the judges are conferred during the appointment ceremony and the chair would remain vacant in the event of death or such extraneous situation until a new judge is appointed.[11]

The current Associate judges of the Supreme Court are Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh, Kabineh Ja'neh, Jamesetta Howard Wolokollie and Philip A. Z. Banks, III.[4][5]

History
Chief Justice during 1910

In 1864 one of the most controversial legal battles was fought between two presidents, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, President of Liberia during 1848–55 against Stephen Allen Benson, another president of the country during 1856–63 over charges of land speculation. Roberts won in the lower court on account of his powers, the Supreme Court overturned the decision.[12]

In August 2007, the Supreme Court allowed proceedings against Gyude Bryant, who was an interim President and allegedly stole $1.3 million (~$1.66 million in 2021) of government property. The Court noted he was not immune to prosecution as a head of the state as he was not elected by the people and was not abiding by the laws of the nation.[13]

Criticism

The Supreme Court, as in other democratic countries, is found to be the weakest among the three arms of democracy. Some experts quote the language in the habeas corpus that implies the judiciary is powerless against both legislature and executive.[12]

In 2005, Liberia acceded to the Second Optional Protocol on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, committing to cease capital punishment. The move was welcomed by United Nations. An amendment was made to the Penal Code in 2008, which indicates "in the event of death occurs during the commission of a crime of armed robbery, terrorism or hijacking, the accused under Section 14.54, 15.32 and 15.33 of the Act shall be sentenced to death by hanging or life imprisonment without possibility of parole". Many human rights activists and organizations see this as the reintroduction of the death penalty. The Chairman of the Law Reform clarified that the accession was during the interim government and could not be deemed valid.[14]

Notes
  1. Jallah, David A. B. “Notes, Presented by Professor and Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, David A. B. Jallah to the International Association of Law Schools Conference Learning From Each Other: Enriching the Law School Curriculum in an Interrelated World Held at Soochow University Kenneth Wang School of Law, Suzhou, China, October 17–19, 2007.” International Association of Law Schools. Retrieved on 1 September 2008.
  2. The NEWS. "Liberia; Transforming the Judiciary", Africa News, 16 March 2006.
  3. "Chief Justices of Liberia". Supreme Court of Liberia. 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  4. "Chief Justice, Associate Justice of Supreme Court of Liberia Commissioned; President Sirleaf Encourages Them to Accelerate Judicial Reforms". Executive Mansion. Republic of Liberia. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  5. "President Sirleaf Nominates Associate Justice Francis S. Korkpor as Chief Justice, Cllr. Sie-A-Yeaneh Youh as Associate Justice, of Supreme Court of Liberia". Executive Mansion. Republic of Liberia. 4 April 2013.
  6. Kaydor, Jr. 2014. p. 1
  7. "Constitution of 1839". The Liberian Constitutions. Archive of Traditional Music at Indiana University. 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  8. "1984 Liberian Constitution". The Liberian Constitutions. Archive of Traditional Music at Indiana University. 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  9. "About The Republic Of Liberia – Politics". Ministry of Information, Government of Liberia. 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  10. Judicial Service, Governmental Service and Teaching of Law) citation: Judiciary Law – Title 17 – Liberian Code of Laws Revised 2.4
  11. "Brief over Liberian Judiciary". Supreme Court of Liberia. 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  12. Burrowes, Carl Patrick (2004). Power and Press Freedom in Liberia, 1830–1970: The Impact of Globalization and Civil Society on Media-government Relations. Africa World Press. p. 68. ISBN 9781592212941.
  13. Sherman, Frank (2010). Liberia: The Land, Its People, History and Culture. New Africa Press. p. 304. ISBN 9789987160259.
  14. Hodgkinson, Peter (2016). Capital Punishment: New Perspectives. Routledge. p. 355. ISBN 9781317169895.

References

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