PHOTO: Circuit Court Judge Nancy Sammy
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Monrovia, Liberia- For a long time now, the country’s Judicial has come under fire for allegedly being corrupt, both locally and internationally through various international human rights reports.
Assertions that the Judiciary is corrupt has in the past been vehemently refuted by the Supreme Court.
But now, the corruption assertion has come from one of the circuit courts Judges. The Judge of the tenth Judicial Circuit Court in Lofa County and the President of the National Trial Judges Association of Liberia, Nancy Sammy has agreed with the assertion that indeed it is a glaring fact that the Liberian Judiciary is corrupt. “It is a fact that the Judiciary is corrupt,” the Judge said.
Judge Sammy made the statement when she spoke at the 2022 Law Day celebrations during the weekend (May 6,2022) at a program held at the Monrovia City Hall under the theme: Advancing the Rule of Law through Decent Work and Access to Justice and Accountability.
The National Trial Judges Association of Liberia President blamed local magistrates for being the problem in the country’s Judiciary.
Given the theme of the Law Day, she asked: Are individuals actually accessing justice? She responded in loud voice and said no because, those of them assigned in rural counties, justice is far accessible to the poor?
According to her, one of the reasons is that at the magisterial court level, especially in outlying areas, justice actors are not available like city solicitors and public defenders.
She gave an example of Lofa County, where she said there two public defenders who are only stationed in Vionjama City, instead of them going in the rural areas to take assignment. The Circuit Court Judge explained that she is always informed that they don’t have assigned vehicles. And she asked, how do they go to perform their duties in the absence of that, she narrated?
“Given the situation mentioned above, how can individuals who go seek justice at the magisterial court get the justice they are seeking?”
Judge Sammy revealed that in some instances at the magisterial courts, magistrates served as City Solicitor and at the same time serve as public defender which she said is totally wrong.
“How can justice be accessed in such system?” she wondered.
Judge Sammy recounted that two years back while on her normal walk exercise, she passed by an old lady who she heard asking: “So in this country, justice only for rich people and the poor?”
Upon hearing that statement from the old lady, she said she turned around and went back to the old lady and asked what her problem was. The old lady explained to her that she gave land to some individuals who pleaded with her to squat on her land due to some uncontrollable reasons to immediately get land of their own.
She quoted that the old lady as agreeing with those individuals out of good will and gave them her land to squat for five years after which, she requested for her land back. But to her surprise, those individuals refused to leave the old lady’s land and she took the matter to the magisterial court. There, the elderly woman was asked by the magistrate to give him money, when in the first place, the old lady doesn’t have money to even transport herself to get to the court.
Judge Sammy further explained that the old lady told her that anytime she gets to the court, this magistrate always asks her for money and because she couldn’t give the money requested by the magistrate, the magistrate decided to downplay her case.
After exploring her ordeal, Judge Sammy said she asked the old lady whether she remembered this particular magistrate who always asked her for money and she said yes. The woman later took judge Sammy to that particular magistrate and the magistrate was instructed to look into the old lady’s case and report to her (Judge Sammy) within two weeks.
After the two week-period, the old lady visited the home of Judge Sammy to tell her that she didn’t carry money for her but she went to bless her because of her intervention, which resulted into the squatters leaving her land.
The tenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Sammy wondered what greater ethical and moral problems that are going on in hard to reach places where there are only magisterial courts.
Judge Sammy calls for retreat on corruption in the Judiciary
Meanwhile, Circuit Court Judge Nancy Sammy is calling on the Supreme Court Associate Justices and members of the Liberian National Bar Association that before the Chief Justice Francis Korkpor retires later this year, they as Judges and magistrates should be called for a retreat in order to put things in place. This, she said is aimed at getting rid of corruption in the Judiciary, so that mob justice will not be the order of the day.
For his part, the United Nations Commission for Human Rights representative Uchenna Emelonye during the International Law Day celebrations pledged his institution financial, technical and other supports to the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA).
Mr. Emelonye disclosed that his institution is having interest to support lawyers who want to be involved with human rights issues within the LNBA.
He added that Liberia is country where there is no legal aid system and the court system always intimidates lawyers, which has made lawyers not to be independent.
The UN human rights office boss then said the only way to solve such problem is to have legal aid system.