By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
The Civil Law Court Annex “B” Judge Nelson B. Chineh has said in order to work against the negative public perception about the Judiciary, the Judiciary must provide continued judgment or legal education for all actors in the justice sector.
Delivery the charge at the opening of the Civil Law A& B, Judge Chineh said that the public perception about the Judiciary is bad, so the vision of the Chief Justice is to work against the negative public perception of the Judiciary by rebranding the image.
“I recommend that all actors must get involve and participate in continued judicial or legal education. Therefore, reprimand those actors who will refuse to conform,” the Civil Law Court Judge noted.
According to him, the vision of the Chief Justice to rebrand could come at no better time than now as the image of the Judiciary is being dragged in the mud.
“It is a known that the public perception of the Judiciary is one of fraud and corruption and we who have taken on the daunting task to be a part of this system must ensure that diligent efforts are made to achieve the relevant changes aimed at improving our services to public,” Judge Chineh stated.
He added that the manner and form in which each of these justice actors act in discharging their respective task impact positively or negatively the public perception of the court system in Liberia.
Judge Chineh maintained that Judges must be afforded opportunity for continued judicial education just as practicing lawyers are privileged to participate in continued legal education since laws are dynamic or involving.
“This will bring a positive change to the manner and forms in which businesses are conducted in court and by this, the public perception of the Judiciary will begin to shift positively,” he added.
He explained that without the assistance of competent and committed counsel, a party litigant faces the danger of injustice, even if the preponderance of evidence is in his or her favor. “This is generally seen as miscarriage of Justice and reflects negatively on the judiciary,”
“If Lawyers understand their responsibilities and obligations to the court as well as their clients it will impart their performance which in turn will positively shift public perception of the Judiciary,” he emphasized.
Judge Chineh explained that the judicial Institute has been striving through its in service training programs to imparx the working of the clerical staffs in record keep and retrieval but more is needed to be done if the confident of court users is to be regained, thereby working against negative public perception.
“As justice sector actors, let us stop manipulating these officers for little of nothing, to make returns contrary to what the truth is, this conduct has the propensity to undermine public confident in the working of the judiciary, therefore corrupting the system does not help,” he explained.
The Civil Law Court Judge concluded that if the image of the Judiciary must be positively restored, legal education must be made mandatory and same must not be conditioned on LNBA convention but instead, the Judicial Institute be empowered or equipped to at all times provide continuous legal education for all justice sector actors.