PHOTO: Private living room-turned Courtroom
By Garmah Never Lomo from Killepo, Kanweaken, River Gee County
Some courts within the Judiciary Branch of government still continues to operate in uncalled for condition to adjudicate cases, some even in the living room of a Judge.
In some jurisdictions especial in rural parts, some courts operate in deplorable conditions around Liberia.
In some places, lawyers have to pay a range of fees for civil cases which is not part of the national budget.
In one case, a magisterial court is being compelled to operate from the home of the Stipendiary Magistrate due to lack of suitable facility to operate the court in this part of River Gee County situated over 517 kilometers southeast of Monrovia.
In an interview with Judge Cumming B. W. Pah on April 20, 2021, said when the court began operations in the area on December 3, 2015, it operated from the Townhall.
Magistrate Pad narrating the court’s ordeal
But he said due to continuing defecating in the place by some unknown individuals despite repeated complaints to the local authority, he had to leave that premises and compelled to use his private home.
Judge Pah further told www.newspublictrust.com that conducting court session of the court bearing the Flag of the Republic of Liberia in a private home is a serious embarrassment and disgrace to the country.
“We prepare writs and other documents to photo copy centers with my own money due to lack typewriter or computer…and there is absolutely no desk and the worst of all no stationaries at all,” this local Magistrate lamented.
“Imagine no benches for people to sit and my sheriff who usually go up and down is not on pay at all.
Nowhere to keep records and usually in my sitting room where the court operates, when rain falls, it can be very terrible for us because all of our documents can get wet,” Judge Pah adds.
The situation with the court in Kanweken is just one of a number of problems, logistical and ethical plaguing the Liberian court system.
In many county capitals, there are relatively good infrastructure for the Circuit courts, but many miles outside county capitals, the picture is poor.