Cllr. Cephus Appointed Vice President to Justinian Lawyers Advisory Board

Barely two months after he was elected as Africa’s Vice President of the Association of European Lawyers-International Lawyers Network (AEA), with the title “Coordinator for Africa”, and inaugurated in Nice, France, Cllr.  Sayma Syrenius Cephus has appointed to the Advisory Board of Justinian Lawyers as Vice President.

The latest appointment makes him the first African and non-European resident ever to hold concomitantly two separate and distinct positions in two leading European lawyers organizations as Vice Presidents.

In an official press statement published on the Justinian Lawyers website and circulated by email to all of its members around the world, a copy of which was sent to Cllr. Cephus, states that   the partners of AEA Abogados-Lawyers SL convened an extraordinary meeting in Spain on June 28, 2019 and unanimously agreed   to officially appoint as Vice President to the Advisory board of Justinian Lawyers, Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus.

“Mr. Vice President, I tried to reach you by phone to give you the good news but the line was not working” the release said.

“I am sending you this notification as Managing Partner of AEA Abogados-Lawyers SL”, Mr. Pedor  Beltrain Gamir added.

In the email, Mr. Gamir urged Cllr. Cephus to see  the  names of other   members of the new advisory board and indicated to him that his (Cllr. Cephus) name and picture will appear in the new Internet site of Justinian Lawyers next week.

“You will be seating in the Presidential Desk of the Justinian meeting and the AEA Congress in New York, next to some of the most distinguished and successful lawyers in history”, he added.

The Advisory Board of Justinian Lawyers comprises 12 famous and illustrious lawyers who have not only distinguished themselves in the practice and teaching of law both in the court and class rooms spanning over a period of decades, but who have also taken on some of the most difficult  but landmarked legal cases in  history in the respective countries.

Cllr. Cephus is revered around the world for  his bold and courageous efforts in taking up some of the most constitutional landmarked cases in Liberia’s juridical history including but not limited to the interpretation of the Article 52(c ) of the 1986 Constitution in 2011, and the 2016 interpretation of Article 1 of the 1986 Constitution in the case: “Edwin Kla Martin v. National Elections Commission(NEC)”, and of late, the impeachment trial of Justice Kabineh Mohammad Ja’neh of the Supreme Court of Liberia.

“We are proud to inform you that despite many emotional attacks on your character  and arguments  during these proceedings, you were calm, focused,  progressive in your arguments and incredibly decisive on  what  you wanted the court to  hear and how it should  receive your arguments, something we find absolutely rare about most Africans or Liberian lawyers”, the release noted.

In the email, Mr. Gamir writes: “My warmest congratulations on this official appointment.  We are twelve in the board so you are on top with some of the most distinguished and famous lawyers of the world.”

The Justinian Lawyers advisory board has two Africans, two Europeans, two Americans and six colleagues from Asia.

“We have Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Buddhist members. We are nine men and three women with ages from 30 to 85:, the email continued.

“We have no doubt to appoint such a visionary character like you because your speech in the AEA Congress was one of the best You are brilliant, intelligent and have a wonderful future

“We as European lawyers are deeply happy that the President of Liberia has appointed some like you to lead the government’s fight against waste, abuse and  the looting of public resources in a country that should become a haven for accountability and transparency after a turbulent period of civil crisis spanning over almost two decades”, he said.

Concluding, Mr. Gamir noted that with the support of the government and the unwavering and unbending commitment of Cllr. Cephus, AEA-Justinian Lawyers are not only pleased to have one of its own their own in the saddle of the war on corruption in Liberia but would be eager to follow closely of progress made thus far and Cllr. Cephus will be given the platform to officially brief next Congress in new York in 2020.

Meanwhile, the members of the new advisory board of Justinian Lawyers are: President: Pedro Beltrán (Spain); First VP: Barbaros  Karaahmet (USA- New York); VICEPRESIDENTS: Zdenka Nocarová  (Czech Republic); Louis Garb (Israel);Fady Jamaledinne (Lebanon); David Franklin (Canada); Cllr. Sayma Syrenius  Cephus, (Liberia); Karine Dick (Seychelles); Prakash Rasaily , (Bhutan); Kaoru Haraguchi , (Japan); Sameer Rastogui, (India) and Chamelia Sari (Indonesia).