Judiciary and Executive in friction

All is not well between the Liberian Judiciary and the Executive over appropriation, as the third branch of government feels relegated and treated unfairly.  

By Lincoln G. Peters 

Monrovia, July 23, 2024:- A brawl seems to be intensifying between the Judiciary branch of government and the Executive, headed by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, over a US$17 million budgetary allocation that the Judiciary describes as public disrepute. 

The third branch of the Liberian government held an emergency press conference over the weekend in the Chamber of the Supreme Court to discuss the matter. 

Addressing the press conference under the caption, “Statement on the state of the Judiciary from the Honourable Supreme Court of Liberia Sitting in its March Term 2024″, Her Honor, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Youh, lamented that government with attending needs and responsibilities remained unresponsive to concern raised by the Judiciary regarding appropriation of a meager 2.8% of the 2024 National Budget for the operation of what she describes as the second largest and decentralized branch of the government. 

According to Chief Justice Youh, the judiciary views this as unfair and unjust, and it is an attempt by the other two branches of government to further render the Liberian judiciary ineffective and inefficient. 

The Chief Justice notes that the judiciary’s decision is premised on Section 21.3 of the New Judiciary Law, as amended in 2006, titled the Financial Autonomy Act, and Article 72. (a) of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia, which clearly enunciates remuneration for Supreme Court Justices and subordinate court judges. 

“We, as the Supreme Court of Liberia and head of the Judiciary Branch of government, are fully cognizant of our power of Judicial Review and the Constitutional Power to strike down any law which runs contrary to the Constitution or any other existing status, such as the Budget Law. We have stayed our actions in the spirit of cooperation and coordination amongst the three branches of government. Unfortunately, we might be constrained to take actions to compel compliance to include but not limited to Article 2 of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia”, Chief Justice Youh threatens. 

She indicates that they hope President Boakai, as head of Government, and the leadership of the 55th Legislature address this situation immediately to avoid a constitutional crisis.

She maintains that the Judiciary will not accept any treatment of indifference and imposition from government co-equals. 

The High Court continues that when the Judiciary was appropriated US$17 million and a one-off contingency amount of US$3 million which amounted to meager 2.8%, of the 2024 National Budget, it was rejected and brought to the attention of the President and the Legislature. 

Chief Justice Youh recalls that on Sunday, June 23, 2024, President Boakai convened a meeting amongst the three Branches of government to address the budget issue of the Judiciary, among other issues confronting the other two branches.

She points out that at that meeting, attended by the President and his cabinet, the Speaker, and the Senate Pro Tempore, the Judiciary submitted a budget estimate of US$31 million to the Ministry of Finance for inclusion in the National Budget.

“However, without any legal authority and reference to the Supreme Court, the Minister of Finance disregarded the budget estimates submitted by the Supreme Court and instead submitted a different budget estimate of US$17 million to the legislature for the judiciary. The legislature, upon passage of the budget, appropriated a contingent amount of US$3 million, which the Ministry of Finance termed as a” one-off/ non-recurrent meant only for judges benefits”, she outlines. 

Chief Justice Youh further laments that the present appropriation provides no opportunity to restore judges’ salaries, an issue pending before the court. 

She notes that they also reiterated that the lack of adequate financial support to the judiciary over the years has resulted in deteriorating infrastructure, as many courts, including the Temple of Justice in Monrovia, are in deplorable conditions. 

“Lack of logistics and worsening conditions of service at the Judiciary are substantially impairing the duty of the Judiciary Branch, as mandated by the Provision of Chapter VII of the Constitution. Evidently, it appears that both the Executive and Legislative branches don’t regard the Judiciary as a co-equal branch”, the Chief Justice concludes. 

The press conference was attended by Judges and Magistrates from across the country as well as the President of the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA), Cllr. Sylvester D. Rennie, Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Dean, Cllr. Jallah Barbu and Solicitor General Augustine Fayiah, among others. Editing by Jonathan Browne