Buchanan, Grand Bassa County – Major stakeholders in the lawmaking and law reform processes of Liberia including members of the National Legislature, the Ministry of Justice, Law Reform Commission, Legislative Drafting Bureau/Information Service and the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) have identified lapses in the lawmaking/law reform process in Liberia as well as duplications of functions of some institutions created by an act of the National Legislature.
During a three-day strategic forum on “Advancing Reconciliation through Legislative Reforms and Civil Engagement; Engagement with Law Reform Commission and Legislators for Law Reform”, which brought together Law Reform Commission, Legislators (Senate and House of Representatives), INCHR, the Ministry of Justice, Legislative Drafting Bureau/Information Service. All these agencies all concede that there is a serious need to look at the lawmaking/law reform process in Liberia, harmonizing laws and avoiding duplication of functions by various institutions.
The forum which held from Thursday, March 23 to Saturday March 25 2019 is a joint program implemented in partnership with the Law Reform Commission and INCHR supported by OHCHR with financial support from the United Nations Peace Building Fund.
In opening remarks, Mr. Francis A. Igiriogu, a Human Rights Officer at the Liberia Country Office of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that gathering all stakeholders in the legislative and law Reform process in Liberia to discuss on law reform is very important.
“We are happy to gather all of you today to discuss the issue of Law Reform in Liberia. For human rights to be realized in any country, the legal framework of that country plays an important role”, said Mr. Igiriogu.
He also said that “When laws are properly made and the present realities on the ground and international human rights standards are reflected in that law, people are more likely to enjoy their rights and liberty.” The OHCHR Human Rights Officer added that it is important for relevant actors in the law reform process to meet, discuss and come out with a strategic framework for collaboration.
Mr. Igiriogu assured that “OHCHR will endeavor to support such strategic collaboration between the relevant agencies in the Law Reform process in Liberia”
Cllr. Boakai N. Kanneh, Chairman of the Law Reform Commission during a presentation suggested that there should be a minimum standard established for the drafting and submission of bills to the National Legislature for passage into law.
“We have seen laws failed because of the language, wordings, for example the Election Law, it says political parties should endeavor to have 30% women representation, suppose a political party says I endeavored but did not get the 30%, how do you say that party has violated the law. This is because the wording of the law is not appropriate”, said Cllr. Kanneh.
Cllr. Kanneh said there is a need for an entity with experts to review the bills to ensure that the language and wordings reflect the real intention of the law makers and to also reflect present day reality. He said that the entity with the statutory mandate is the Law Reform Commission which supposed to be a big law firm for the government of Liberia but regretted that it is grossly underfunded and not well staffed to perform its mandate.
The Chairman of the Law Reform Commission also said that in making laws the Legislature should be consulting relevant agencies to make their input in their specialized areas. Example of such agencies are the Law Reform Commission, INCHR, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance and Development, Ministry of Gender, Legislative Drafting Bureau etc. This is because the agencies will consider the cost implications of implementing the law, human rights issues, whether there is existing law in conflict with the present one, etc.
“Laws should have gender and children issues and when a law is passed it should be well circulated so the public will know that a new law has been passed. You can’t keep it on the shelf and expect the public to know that the law exists”, he suggested.
Cllr. Kanneh frowned against a phrase that is now common in nearly all Liberian laws passed by the National Legislature where it states at the end of the law “any law to the contrary withstanding”, this according to Cllr. Kanneh means nothing and should be erased from Liberian laws.
According to him, during the passage of laws, if the current law is meant to repeal existing law, it must be stated clearly that previous existing law has been amended or repealed by the new law rather than a blanket statement ‘any law to the contrary notwithstanding’.
He called on the lawmakers to reach out to institutions like the Law Reform Commission during the passage of laws, noting that not all lawmakers have the expertise on laws because they are elected not based on the education but for various political reasons.
“Some lawmakers are elected because of popularity, others based on their humanitarian gestures in their constituencies, so you do not come to the Legislature with all the requisite skills required for lawmaking, this is why specific institutions are established with people who have the skills and expertise to help you perform your duty. Reach out to them”, the Law Reform Commission Chairman said.
Cllr. Kanneh used the opportunity to present the National Law Reform Policy to the participants detailing roles of respective agencies involved in law making and law reform in Liberia. He also unveiled LRC proposed legislative process map to the participants and sought their approval to adopt the process as legislative process in Liberia. Senator J. Gblehbo Brown of Maryland County advised that the process be officially presented to the Senate so that it can be used as the official legislative process in Liberia if passed which was accepted by Cllr. Kanneh.
Representative Mariamu Fofana said that as law makers some of them strive to ensure that rule of law prevails even contrary to popular opinions in the legislature. She expressed displeasure that in such situation when laws are being violated, institutions created by the National Legislature with specific functions do not come in to speak out on the violations.
“Institutions sit and watch violations of the laws. Where were these institutions during the removal of Alex Tyler? Again when Ja’nneh was being removed which institution stood up to say it is not about this man but our laws are being violated”, she indicated.
The lawmaker said, even lawmakers and institutions of government need to change their mind set and attitude about governance issues.
Atty. Andrew B.W. Jaye, Sr., Legal Counsel for the House of Representatives presenting on “the role of the legislative drafting bureau in Law Reform process, prospect and challenges” said there is a need for uniformity in laws that are being passed by the National Legislature.
Atty. Jaye said he is encouraging lawmakers and their staffers to always take their bills to the Bureau for confidential discussions to help ensure clarity, accurate presentation and subsequent passage into law.
“Any committee that request professional assistance from our Bureau, it will be provided because the goal is to add value to the lawmaking initiative of each lawmaker which will not only assist a particular lawmaker but also help in the law reform process”, Atty. Jaye said.
Atty. Jaye noted that parts of some statutes and the constitution need to be repealed or amended to conform with present day realities and also to make laws simple for the ordinary people.
The Legal Counsel of the House of Representatives said some laws are published with missing sections which could impact implementation or interpretation by the court, something he says is very wrong to do.
Amongst some of the laws with such problems he outlined that multiple sections of the Decent Work Act, 2015 are missing including Sections 21.1, 31.3, 31.4, 31.5, 31.6 amongst others.
McCarthy Weh of the Legislative Information Service said the service conducted a research and submitted recommendations to the National Legislature for Reform but those recommendations are yet to be implemented.
Mr. Weh said amongst the recommendations, the LIS called for the commission of an audit of the Secretariat of the Legislature at least twice every term beginning and closing, that lawmakers fully declare their assets before takeover again declare afterwards.
“We recommend for the House of Representatives to have a fully functional Internal Audit Department, with staff with skills. Currently, the House of Representatives does not have an Internal Audit Department in this age and time of accountability”, said Mr. Weh.
He also said another key recommendations is for the Legislature to ensure that it has an electronic voting system to show how each lawmaker votes on issue at the Legislature to enable their constituents know how they vote on issues.
Representative Rosana G.D.H. Schaack, Chairperson of the Women Legislative Caucus, member of the Committee on gender, Children and Social Protection providing updates on the Domestic Violence Act said the issue of inclusion of harmful traditional practices has been very contentious.
The lawmaker said harmful traditional practices like the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) was removed from the Domestic Violence Bill because there is a separate bill to deal with FGM. She said the legislature is being careful in addressing the issue of harmful traditional practice versus the respect for the culture of many places in Liberia where the practice is common. She emphasized that many practitioners of FGM are doing that for economic gain and reiterated the need to find alternative means of livelihood for such persons if the issue of FGM is to be laid to rest.
She added that discussions are ongoing to have the consensus of zoes that the harmful aspect of the practice should be abolished while other aspect that are not harmful continue because according to her in some parts of Liberia people see it as means of generating income.
Representative Schaack said another issue is that of harassment by telephone calls, strengthening penalties, definition of offense and other issues that are being looked at before further action on the law.
“As you know, out of the 73 members of the House of Representatives only 9 are females, therefore we are seeking the support of our male counterparts on the passage of the bill”, she disclosed.
Representative Schaack continued “Poro and Sande for some is a means of income generation. We have to agree for our culture has to remain as people and when you take away the harmful part, traditional people can still carry out their practice”.
At the end of the strategic forum, recommendations were made and adopted by all the participants.