PHOTO: Solicitor General, Cllr. Cephas
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia- As the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Liberia, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean and two top justice officials appeared before the Criminal Courts in a contempt charge, they’ve shifted blame on the Finance Ministry for failure to disburse funds for striking state prosecutors.
Strike by state prosecutors is in its second week.
Minister Dean, who went along with Liberia’s Solicitor General Sayma Syrenius Cephas and Deputy Minister for Codification at the Ministry of Justice Nyanti Tuan on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, told the Judges that the Finance Ministry is responsible for failure to disburse prosecution funds.
They requested court to make amendment in the Writ of Summon to include the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
The contempt of court and summon proceedings were heard by Criminal Courts A, B, C, D and E judges, who also expressed the same concern over the absence of state Prosecutors.
Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, Solicitor General Cephas begged the court and said that the Ministry of Justice acknowledges the concern raised by it, which necessitated the issuance of the writ of summons for contempt of court, following the reported absence of prosecutors from Court proceedings.
Cllr. Cephas said that the state prosecutors’ absence was far beyond the Justice Ministry’s control, as it borders on payment of prosecution funds. And this being the case, the SG said Ministry of Justice hereby crave the indulgence of their honors to expand the writ of summon to include the office of the Ministry of Finance most of whom are lawyers to be part of said session which the judges will use to determine hereafter.
The SG further told court that the request and information was made in good fate and as such it is intended solely as a fact finding session and further informed court that the reason for the expansion and extension of the writ of summon is based on the fact that the agencies so named Ministry of Finance and Development planning has not been finding the Ministry of Justice to fund the Prosecution section, thereby creating the opportunity for Prosecutors to appear in court.
Liberia’s Solicitor General also told the court that the Ministry of Justice understands the absence of the prosecutors from court clearly undermined the authority of the court and the rule of law.
Cllr. Cephas revealed that being the enforcement arm of the Republic of Liberia, the Justice Ministry brought to the attention of the court to summon officials of the Ministry of Finance to form part of the exercise, since in fact most of them are lawyers who understand the role of prosecutors in court processes.
The Justice Ministry officials said their request was made in good faith, thereby pleading with the judges to purge the contempt charge and expand the new technologies expanded contempt, so as to clearly determine the problem that the Ministry of Justice is faced with.
In response to the request of the Justice Ministry officials, members of the Amicus Curiae (Friends of the court), Cllr. T. Joseph Debblay and Atty. Jallah Sumo said that while the excuse given by the Ministry of Justice seems nice and polite, said sufficient clarity was not given to convince the court while the contempt charge should be purged.
Meanwhile, the judges reserved ruling into the matter and asked all parties to be present in court on Wednesday May 19, 2021.