Monrovia – Chief Justice Francis Korkpor has put a slap in the face of the ongoing salary harmonization, which remains a burning issue amongst judges and discussed behind closed doors for the past months.
The Chief Justice, who is the head of the Judiciary branch of government, rejected the much-publicized policy in the presence of President George Weah, Speaker Bhofal Chambers and Pro-Tempore Albert Chie on Monday, October 14, during a ceremony marking the opening of the October 2019 Term of the Supreme Court.
“We have followed with keen interest, national discussions on the issue of salary harmonization to the point that the Legislature has promulgated an Act to establish the National Renumeration standardization of 2019,” said Chief Justice Korkpor, who added that the Judiciary is taking note of Article 72 of the 1986 Constitution.
Article 72 (a) of the Constitution provides that Justices of the Supreme Court and all other judges shall receive such salaries, allowances and benefits as shall be established by law. Such salaries shall be subject to taxes as defined by law, provided that they shall not otherwise be diminished.
Allowances and benefits paid to justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of subordinate courts may be increased but may not be diminished except under a national program enacted by the Legislature not shall allowances and benefits be subject to taxation.
And Chief Justice Korkpor also cited the Judicial Canon Six which states that a judge is a government-paid official and must be paid adequately and shall hold an exalted position which prevents him from engaging in any business pursuit; therefore, he must be provided with the necessities of life and with every means by which he will be able to perform his duties effectively, efficiently and speedily.
The Chief Justice then emphasized that Judges must be encouraged and given the incentive to live a decent and dignified life that would prevent financial and domestic worries and enable him to repel temptation which is susceptible to human life as a priest of justice.
He added that a judge should not be given the cause to be corrupted in the performance of his/her judicial duties so as to be justified for any disciplinary action taken against him/her if found in those qualities.
“In light of the foregoing, we advise and urge that any process of harmonizing or standardizing salaries of Government Officials and senior civil servants take into consideration requisite provisions of the law especially when applying to the Judiciary in order to ensure justice and equity,” the Chief justice stressed.
The salary harmonization scheme, which the government says was recommended by the International Monitory Fund, has sparked increasing concerns from civil servants and officials of government.
For civil servants, they have complained of earning merger salaries yet affected by the harmonization scheme.
At the opening of court, President George Weah, Speaker Chambers or Pro-Tempore did not react to the Chief Justice’s comments.
But Justice Minister and Attorney General Frank Musa Dean, who was seen exchanging notes with President Weah after the Chief Justice comment, assured the Supreme Court of working with the Finance Ministry to address the situation.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Korkpor disclosed that during the March term of court a total of 35 cases were heard. He said the high court rendered opinions and Judgment in 29 cases while priority will be given to the remaining six cases during this October 2019 Term.