MONROVIA – The distance between an executive order and a working courtroom is where Liberia’s accountability project now sits. Journalists pressing for the war and economic crimes court voiced an impatience that is shared well beyond the newsroom. Their questions exposed a bottleneck that has moved from the Executive Mansion to the Legislature. Officials handling the courts sought to reassure them, while placing the next decisive step with lawmakers themselves. The exchange laid bare a tension at the heart of transitional justice. It set the urgency victims feel against the slow machinery a credible court demands. Whether the two proposed tribunals become operational may turn less on political will than on readiness, as THE ANALYST reports.
The concerns surfaced at a two-day media training organized by New Narratives to deepen reporters’ understanding of the proposed War and Economic Crimes Court (WECC) and the National Anti-Corruption Court (NACC).
Participants asked why the Legislature had yet to pass the draft laws and when the institutions would begin work. Speaking for the executive director of the Office for the Establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia (OWECC-L), Dr. Cllr. Jallah A. Barbu, the office’s associate director for media and public affairs, Christopher K. Sellee Sr., acknowledged the rising public interest.
He challenged journalists to keep the matter before lawmakers through their reporting and commentary.
From Order To Statute
Sellee recalled that in May 2026 President Joseph Nyuma Boakai renewed OWECC-L’s mandate through Executive Order No. 164, and that the office had completed two draft bills.
One would establish the war and economic crimes court; the other, the anti-corruption court. The immediate responsibility, he said, now rests with the Legislature to act on the legislation. In the meantime, he added, the office continues to prepare the institutional framework needed to make the courts credible and functional once the laws are enacted.
Two Courts, Distinct Mandates
Although complementary, the two courts would carry different mandates, Sellee explained. The war and economic crimes court is expected to address grave crimes tied to Liberia’s conflicts, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The anti-corruption court would provide a specialized forum for corruption cases, particularly those involving public officials, public resources and public institutions. Sellee said the office has developed a national roadmap covering the steps required to move from legislation to functioning institutions.
Those steps span institutional development, national consultations, financing, recruitment and training, investigation and prosecution, judicial administration, witness protection, evidence management and public engagement.
Readiness Over Preference
A credible court, Sellee said, requires qualified judges, prosecutors, investigators and administrators, along with adequate funding, sound procedures and secure evidence systems. He cautioned against relying on previously projected timelines, which he said depend on legislative action.
Asked why the anti-corruption court might open before the war crimes court, Sellee pointed to the demands of prosecuting historical atrocities.
Those cases could involve extensive investigation, the reconstruction of evidence, the protection of witnesses and survivors, international cooperation and procedures meeting high standards of due process.
He described the possible sequencing as a matter of institutional readiness rather than preference.