Monrovia-Associate Justice Yarmie Gbeisay of the Supreme Court of Liberia has issued a shocking dissent in a major decision concerning the legality of the 2025 national budget, challenging the majority’s endorsement of a procedural manoeuvre he argues defies both constitutional law and judicial precedent.
By Willie N. Tokpah, [email protected]
The Court’s majority opinion upheld the use of a Bill of Information to challenge legislative actions related to the passage of the fiscal budget, despite deep political divisions in the House of Representatives.
But in a scathing dissent, Justice Gbeisay described the ruling as a “profound departure from established law and judicial propriety,” warning that the Court had overstepped its bounds into the domain of the political branches.
“The case before us presents a quintessential political question, one that lies beyond the proper jurisdiction of this Court and squarely within the domain of the legislative or executive branches of government,” Gbeisay wrote.
At the heart of the dissent is Justice Gbeisay’s argument that the Amended Bill of Information filed by members of the House’s minority bloc was procedurally defective under Rule IV, Part 12 of the Supreme Court’s Revised Rules.
This rule limits Bills of Information to matters where a mandate of the Court is either obstructed or improperly executed.
Gbeisay maintained that no such mandate existed in the Court’s prior judgment of December 6, 2024.
The ruling merely stated that members of the House should “conduct themselves accordingly,” and tasked only the Court Clerk with informing the parties, language Gbeisay says falls short of a binding judicial order.
“The directive is clearly ministerial, limited only to the Clerk. It contains no enforceable instruction or mandate directed to the Legislature,” he explained.
He warned that by interpreting the judgment as a mandate, the Court had opened the door for litigants to seek re-interpretation or even reversal of decisions through informational filings, which are meant to enforce, not reconsider, judicial rulings.
Governance in Crisis
Justice Gbeisay’s dissent also addressed the controversy surrounding the passage of the FY2025 national budget.
The budget was adopted by a faction of lawmakers deemed the “majority bloc,” following a political stalemate in the House. It was then approved by the Senate and signed into law by President JosephNyuma Boakai.
Critics argued the process violated the Court’s earlier decision on legislative procedure, but Gbeisay defended the actions as necessary for the functioning of government.
Justice Gbeisay stressed that judicial insistence on rigid legal forms in the face of institutional dysfunction could paralyze the state’s operations and violate the public trust.
Justice Gbeisay also took aim at what he called a “patently inconsistent” position by members of the minority bloc who challenge the budget’s legality while continuing to accept salaries and other benefits under it.
A Call for Reconsideration
In a rare move, Justice Gbeisay declined to affix his signature to the Court’s final opinion and called on future justices to revisit and potentially overturn the ruling.
“I respectfully decline to append my signature to the majority opinion,” he concluded. “I further urge this Court, or a future Bench, to revisit and recall the present judgment.”
With the political impasse in the Legislature unresolved and the Executive relying on the FY2025 budget to maintain state functions, Gbeisay’s dissent not only underscores internal divisions in the Supreme Court, but also raises pressing questions about constitutional interpretation, judicial restraint and the future of Liberia’s democratic institutions.