Monrovia – The attention of the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA) has been drawn to the recent mob justice against three women in Sinoe County. According to them, as result of that mob justice, one of women died.
LNBA condemned the video of the naked women being paraded on Facebook on allegation of being witches.
In LNBA press statement, they said, “The Bar maintains that Liberia is governed by the rule of law. Under our laws, where a person is suspected of committing a crime, the person is investigated by the Police, charged and forwarded to court for prosecution. Our law does not support, sanction, or condone, in any form and manner, individuals or institutions taking law into their own hands. The act against the two women, whereby they are striped butt-naked and paraded in the streets by some citizens within the vicinity, is a gross violation of the law, a perpetuation of jungle justice, and damaging to the high values of womanhood.”
The Bar Association called on the government to bring the perpetrators of such despicable act to justice to serve as a deterrent.
The Bar also touched on the ongoing impeachment proceeding against Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh.
“The LNBA maintains that the Liberian Constitution of 1986 provides in Article 71 that ‘Chief Justice or Associate Justice may be removed upon impeachment and conviction by the Legislature based on proved misconduct, gross breach of duty, inability to perform the functions of their office, or conviction in a court of law for treason, bribery or other infamous crimes.’”
The legal group reminds Liberians that Article 73 of the Constitution says, “No judicial official shall be summoned, arrested, detained, prosecuted or tried civilly or criminally by or at the instance of any person or authority on account of judicial opinions rendered or expressed, judicial statements made and judicial acts done in the course of a trial in open court or in chambers, except for treason, or other felonies misdemeanor or breach of the peace…”
They noted that Article 43 accentuates that the Bill of Impeachment rests with the House and the power to try impeachment is vested in the Senate and that when the President, Vice President or an Associate Justice is to be tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. However, the constitution mandates that for such impeachment to take place. ”The Legislature shall prescribe the procedure for impeachment proceedings which shall be in conformity with the requirements of due process of law”.
Due process is consistent with Article 20(a) which inter alia says that ”no person shall be deprived life, liberty, security of the person, property, privilege or any other right except as the outcome of a hearing judgment constituent with provisions laid down in the constitution. The Supreme Court in Wolloh vs. Wolloh has further interpreted due process to mean the law of the land, one that hears before it condemns and proceeds upon inquiry and renders judgment only after hearing.
“On the basis of these legal foundations, the LNBA cautions all parties in the ongoing impeachment proceeding to remain within the ambit of the law and to ensure that these critical benchmark/requirements laid down in the Constitution are satisfied, as to proceed otherwise will tragically rob the process of legal efficacy and set a wrong precedent. The Bar accentuates further that if judicial officials are subjected to impeachment because of opinions rendered or decisions made in the exercise of their judicial responsibilities, it has the tendency to undermine the independence of the Judiciary, weaken the checks and balances framework envisaged in the Constitution and is corrosive to our democracy.” The Bar Association observes that if the impeachment proceeding omits the causes or fails to follow procedure spelled out clearly by the Constitution, it would be tantamount to a witch hunt and a travesty of justice that would erect a very dangerous precedent in the country.