Monrovia – The need for legal practitioners in Africa to prioritize justice in the legal profession and restore public trust has been stressed by key speakers including Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor during the opening of the African Bar Association’s five days conference in Monrovia.
On Monday, October 21, Vice President Taylor, who spoke on behalf of the Government at the conference taking place at the Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, said people have moved away from the core value of integrity and justice and that justice is no longer being rendered by its true meaning of being blind.
“Take justice to the poor and disadvantaged people in society,” said VP Taylor, who earlier welcomed the foreign participants and asked them to deliberate on contemporary issues facing Africa.
As a lawyer herself, Vice President Taylor advised her colleagues to fully represent their clients from start to finish in a trial and move to set an agenda for justice for all citizens – rich or poor.
For his part, the African Bar Association President Hannibal Uwaifo thanked Liberia for hosting the conference after the venue was changed from Cairo, Egypt to Monrovia due to contemporary issues facing the African continent.
Uwaifo recounted that since the formation of the AFBA in 1971 as a fearless voice of the legal profession, the African Bar has played her role creditably in defense of the legal profession, continental legal emancipation and fostering of fraternity across the different borders within the continent.
The AFBA President then called on the Liberian government to establish a special tribunal to look into war crimes committed during the country’s civil crisis.
He asserted that there were some actors of the Liberian civil conflict that have been brought to justice for crimes allegedly committed while others have not.
“They must all face justice in a transparent and recognized legal judicial process, this is the only way to rest the past and face the future,” said Uwaifo, who disclosed that the AFBA has already entered partnership with the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA), the Institute of International Law and Criminal Justice.
Cllr. Tiawon Gongloe, president of the Liberian National Bar Association was excited that his association is hosting the prestigious continental event, which involves “sharing of the knowledge of the law on very important issues facing the African continent”.
Cllr, Gongloe expressed confidence that the conference will be a “resoundingly success” for the LNBA and the AFBA”.
“We, lawyers, must remain ever determined and simulated by a high degree of optimism to make our continent a cherished home for all Africans and an attractive place for the rest of the World through strengthening the rule of law in every imaginable way for the transformation of our continent,” Gongloe said.
At the same time, Associate Justice Jamesette Wolokollie and former Coordinator of the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICC) Karim Khan lauded the AFBA and stressed the need to discuss key contemporary issues facing the continent.
African Bar Association conference is being held under the theme: Tackling contemporary issues facing the African continent how lawyers can drive a renaissance.
Monrovia was selected as the venue after the AFBA raised security concerns about the Egyptian Government denying visas to several stakeholders, who were invited for the event.
Cllr. Gongloe after meeting AFBA President in Monrovia earlier this year then decided to host the conference in Monrovia, indicating that although the LNBA was currently facing financial constraint, hosting of the conference will bring immense benefits to the country