PHOTO: Judge Yamie Gbeisay speaking during Monday’s court opening
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TUBMANBURG, Liberia- The assigned Judge at the eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in here in the western Bomi County, Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay today, Monday threatened to penalize court officials who will refuse to perform their duties on time.
Judge Gbeisay made gave the warning on February 14, 2022 during the formal opening of the February A.D. 2022 term of court, calling on court officials to be in court at or before 9am.
Failure to do so, they will be dealt with in line with the law and rules of the court, he reminded at the Tubmanburg Central prison.
Even though Judge Gbeisay didn’t deliver a formal charge during the opening, he cautioned court officials not to come in conflict with policies regarding the court.
To other individuals, he advised everyone who has duty with the court to be on time.
The no-nonsense Judge added that he will not take any unnecessary excuses from anyone who should perform a specific duty but fail to do so.
Judge Gbeisay has vowed to jail anyone who will take their job for play because those court officials are being paid from tax payers’ money. Therefore, they must do the work for which they are pay for.
According to him, his aim is not to jail anyone but to see the right things being done on time and cautioned the County Attorney to be disciplined in assigning cases.
For his part, the County Attorney for Bomi County Patrick Weah agreed with the Judge assertion and said that the duty of prosecution is to dispense justice and due process of law is followed.
County Attorney Weah indicated that many at times citizens see them to be bad lawyer when the case doesn’t end in their favor something which he said cases are on evidence they gathered but they cannot manufacture evidence.
Even though he agreed with the judge on the issue of timelines but disagree in part on ground that sometimes unforeseen circumstances might occurred beyond their control but appeal to the judge to dispense justice with mercy whenever said uncontrollable circumstances comes their way.
For his part, the Public Defender of Bomi County J. Sackor Doe lauded the judge of his disciplinary threat but want him to implement it.
Public Defender Doe told the gathering that most of the judges assigned at the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in Bomi County are 99.9% pro-prosecution judges but called on judge Gbeisay not to be like that.
According to public defender Doe, pre-trial detainees are held behind bars without being tried but called on the judge to use his legal know how to release some of those pre-trial detainees who are being held for minor crimes.
He therefore called on the judge not to take side with the prosecution or the defense lawyers but should do what the law says.
Monday’s court opening program here was poorly attended due to what some attributed to the the ongoing Bicentennial launch program in the capital, Monrovia. Majority of people who attended the program was prospective jurors with few lawyers and law enforcement officers.
Meanwhile, there are seven criminal cases and thirteen civil cases on the docket for this February A.D. 2022 term of court.