By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Liberia Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, has blasted at lawyers and threatens to fine her colleagues Justices, Judges and Magistrates who deliberately refused to attend the annual Law Day celebration in Monrovia, terming their actions as disrespect to the rules of law.
The Law Day is celebrated every year May 3rd to highlight the rule of law in the society as well as cultivating a deeper understanding of the legal profession.
The celebration was held Friday May 3, 2024 at the Paynesville Town Hall in consistent with the Liberia national bar association constitution, and it was held under the theme: The mechanism leading to the establishment of the war and economic crimes court.
Delivering a special statement on behave of the supreme court of Liberia, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, said based on the mandate of the Bar president and national council, she issued an order that all court be closed on May 3, 2024 as a precedence in observance of the day.
According to the Chief Justice, despite the decision to close all courts in observance of the day, Justices, judges, magistrates, and lawyers were in low attendance at the occasion, this she described as disobedience to the rule of law.
She further that she will tax judges and magistrates to pay a price for boycotting the celebration of the day.
“For those of you who said I have no authority in championing this cause, let me just remind you that the chief justice is the administrative head of the judiciary,” Chief Justice Yuoh she said.
The observance of Law Day started in 1957 by the American Bar Association, and US president Dwight D. Eisenhower declared Law Day, a National Day of Commitment as principles of government under the rule of Law.