JUDGES WANT BEFITTING RETIREMENT LAWS PASSED

JUDGES WANT BEFITTING RETIREMENT LAWS PASSED

                                                    His Honor Roosevelt Z. Willie

The National Association of Trial Judges of Liberia, NATJL, has called upon the 54^th National Legislature and the Executive Branch of Government to consider enacting laws aimed at retiring judges and magistrates with dignity in line with international best practice.

Judge Roosevelt Willie, Resident Circuit Judge of Criminal Court A at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia, made the plea Monday, August 14, 2018, during programs marking the opening of the August Term of courts in the First Judicial Circuit, of Montserrado County.

According to Judge Willie, who also presides over Criminal Court “D” this Term of Court, the enactment of such laws is urgent now because of the recently filed petition of retired Associate Justice Gladys K. Johnson before the Supreme Court of Liberia, concerning her retirement benefits. “We therefore humbly appeal to the Honorable Supreme Court of Liberia to bring down the opinion in this matter, which will serve as a precedent also for judges and magistrates.”

Delivering the joint charge of the First Judicial Circuit, hosting Criminal Courts “A”, “B”, “C”, “D” and “E”, Judge Willie noted that the National Association of Trial Judges of Liberia, NATJL, has for about a decade, done everything legally and humanly possible to move the Legislative and Executive Branches of Government to pass appropriate retirement laws befitting their profession but the appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

Comparing Liberia to other countries in the West African sub-region, Judge Willie disclosed that their colleagues in Ghana and regional countries retire with their salaries and benefits, such as vehicles, gasoline supply, allowances, amongst other things.

He further noted that their retired colleagues in the sub-region and elsewhere get increment in their retirement salaries when their colleagues in active service get pay raise. “Notwithstanding our efforts…our plights in retirement …have yielded no fruitful results; thereby retiring us in abject poverty and disgrace.”

“It is frustrating and disheartening for professionals like us”, he added, “to serve our country for all of our life time and reach retirement age of seventy (70) and live in abject poverty and disgrace for the rest of our lives; because the monthly salaries of (LD$7,500 for judges and LD$4,000 for magistrates) earned in retirement cannot put food on the table for us and our families, not to mention medical bills”.

“This inhumane treatment has led to the untimely death of many of our colleagues”! Judge Willie lamented.

Solicitor General, Cllr. Darku Mulbah answering to the Joint Charge of the Judges, emphasized the need for adequate retirement benefits for judges and magistrates as a means of promoting an independent and corruption free Judiciary.

Cllr. Mulbah agreed that judges and magistrates be retired in dignity, adding that it was time for a proactive review of the laws on retirement to make them fit the realities of today.

He promised the Justice Ministry’s commitment to assisting in the process and called on all other relevant actors to help work on laws that will secure noble retirement for judges and magistrates.

Commenting on the unending allegations of corruption against the Judiciary, Cllr. Mulbah said such allegations were not just the making of the courts, but jurors who are by law required to assist the courts decide the fact of cases.

The solicitor general used the occasion to educate prospective jurors in attendance that their role was to help the courts dispense impartial justice and that they would account for their actions if they went contrary to the role assigned them.

He concluded his response to the Charge by calling on the judges and the Public Defense Office to cooperate with the prosecution in dealing with the issues of pretrial detention-a situation which has won the Liberian Government international and local disapproval. 

Also reacting to judges’ charge, the Coordinator of the Public Defense Office similarly agreed with the apprehension of judges about government’s repeated failure to put in place a handsome pension scheme for judges.

Cllr. James C. R. Flomo said the Public Defense Office will work with other stakeholders to advocate for the passage of a law seeking improvement of the retirement benefits for Liberian judges.

The Chief of Public Defense however urged the judges to also plan for their retirement while in active service, especially if they serve for a protracted period within the Judiciary.

Remarking further, Cllr. Flomo appealed to the judges to honor the laws on releasing inmates if the Justice Ministry fails to prosecute an accused person in keeping with law.

Section 18.2 of Liberia’s Criminal Procedure Law provides that: “Unless good cause is shown, a court shall dismiss a complaint against a defendant who is not indicted by the end of the next succeeding term after his arrest for an indictable offense or his appearance in court in response to a summons or notice to appear charging him with such an offense.  Unless good cause is shown, a court shall dismiss an indictment if the defendant is not tried during the next succeeding term after the finding of the indictment.  A court shall dismiss a complaint charging a defendant with an offense triable by a magistrate or justice of the peace if trial is not commenced in court in response to a summons or notice to appear.”

Reluctance on the part of courts to implement the law titled “Dismissal by court for failure to proceed with prosecution,” is to some extent, responsible, for the huge number of Pretrial detainees and over crowdedness at prison facilities across the country.

Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor, Sr., in a recent interview with Public Information Officers described prolonged pretrial detention, which has claimed the attention of the Judiciary, as being legally wrong and called for multiparty efforts to fight it.

The Chief Justice however named the Magistrate Sitting Program being piloted in Montserrado County, as one of several suggested programs that will help to remedy the situation.