By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Monrovia- The grounds of the Temple of Justice was a scene of attraction when Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh arrived a minutes after 10am on this week under a heavy downpour of rain, ordering court officers assigned at the entrances of the court building to clear the area.
Seeking shelter there on Wednesday, June 5, 2024 were a crowd of party litigants and the court officers surged forward, leaving many in the downpour of rain.
Many of the people were standing in front of the Monrovia City Court and this is not the first of such action by court officers.
“Put them outside, whether or not it’s rainy,” Chief Justice Yuoh told the sheriffs and bailiffs, saying that that was not a waiting area.
She also complained about the behavior of some court officers to the Chief security at the Temple Justice for not always implementing her no standing and waiting order, even though it’s not a judicial order.
Following that, the court officers began to implement the order to the fullest by pushing the crowd, who included lawyers and party litigants, out into the rain, something that sparked big outcries by some of those who were waiting for the hearing of their cases.
Chief Justice Yuoh’s vehicles used the corridor of the Monrovia City where she met huge crowd waiting for time to go in the Monrovia City court for the hearing of their cases according to their assigned times.
Since her ascendency as head of the Judiciary, she has ordered court officers not to allow anyone sitting in the courtyard when their cases are not ready or have no business to do at the court.
The Monrovia City Court, which is the court of first instance, has no sitting capacity to host more than twenty people and there is no waiting area within the court corridors where party litigants can sit to wait for their cases time.
“No standing, No waiting” is part of a familiar refrain since the Chief Justice began her campaign to rebrand the Judiciary.
“If the rain is good for us, why she stopped under it and she’s not better than us,” one of the party litigants remarked.
“She should remember that we give her the power because we as citizens voted the president who appointed her,” another party litigant shouted.
Other party litigants and other people affected by the move frowned on the Chief Justice’s order, something some said was worrisome.