August Term Opens, Rape Cases Dominate Docket -4th Judicial Circuit Judge Updates Portfolio of Cases

By: Henry N. Kolenky In Maryland County

MONROVIA- The Fourth Judicial Circuit Court in Southeastern County of Maryland County held ceremonies for official opening of the August term August 12, 2024, with relieving judge Nelson Chinneh speaking of cases on the dock.

The judge said during the ceremonies held at Maryland County’s administration building that on docket for the term are the total of 15 criminal cases and 64 civil cases.

The August term of court, he reported, has got on the docket nine statutory rape cases, one rape aggravated assault, involuntary sodomy, and theft of property.

Delivering his Formal Charge in open Court, the Relieving Judge spoke on the theme, ‘Upholding Judicial Integrity: A Way Of Working Against Negative Perception.

He reflected that the Judiciary, over the years, was ruined, public confidence deranged due of all forms of judicial manipulations, interference and corruption.

Judge Cinneh said to restore the lost image of the judiciary requires the sincere effort or commitment of all judicial actors that include judges, prosecuting, defense and private lawyers, clerical staff ministerial officers, the press, and member of the general public and the jury.

According to him, the manner and form in which justice actors act in discharging their respective tasks generally impact the public perception about the court system in Liberia.

He pointed out that a judge as a judicial officer must at all time exhibit the sense of neutrality.

“A Judge is expected to possess some basic qualities, to include but not limited to being knowledgeable in the law and being a man and woman of integrity,” he said. “As judges, it is our responsibility to make decision in cases brought before us based on the evidence produced at trial and the law controlling. The trial process should at all time be opened to the general public, meaning, anyone desirous of attending the trial can come in to witness the trial process.”

He called on judges to refrain from passing judgment without due process.

Judge Chinneh also said due process is that principle of law that requires an accused to be accorded an opportunity to be heard prior to been condemned.

He also said lawyers should avoid stirring up litigation something he described as unethical and should not be encouraged.

“If the image of the judiciary must be positively restored, legal education must be mandatory and that same must not be conditioned on Liberia National Bar Association convention but instead, the Judicial Institute must be empowered equipped at all time provide continued legal education for all justice sector actors, including lawyer,” the Relieving Judge Chinneh stressed.

Also speaking at the opening of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court was the lone public defender and a veteran Liberian journalist Attorney Adolphus Taylor who expressed high level of gratitude in the Honorable Supreme Court for adhering to his recommendation by sending another veteran journalist-turned lawyer attorney Dominic Sworh to contribute to his effort in the jurisprudence.

According to attorney Taylor, the work as defense lawyers is not to protect people who are perceived to be doer of evil but to give everyone the opportunity to a fair trial and human dignity, as this is why the presumption of cases is very cardinal in the judicial system of Liberia.

He said anyone charged or accused under the law of Liberia for the commission of a crime is presumed innocent until proven otherwise through a due process.

“Unless our system can see this reality of the law, we will not get anywhere because if somebody is accused and you pass judgement upon them before bringing them to trial, it is a serious problem and this is one of the major reasons why we don’t believe in jungle justice,” Attorney Taylor observed.

He further noted that it is not the duty of prosecution to convict but to see that justice is done.

Prosecution job is to convict the guilty and to protect the innocent, he added. “It is the estimation of mankind.”

He said the court can never be the instrument of any government or agent of anybody.

Also speaking at the occasion was the coordinator of the Independent Commission on Human Rights Mr. Boniface Nyemah who disclosed that his office has investigated the total of five mysterious disappearance cases from Karluway and Harper District.

According to Nyemah, bones of people who mysteriously disappeared could not be discovered.

He reported that judicial actors that many citizens and residents of Karluway were living in fear as a result of mysterious disappearing of people.

The role of human rights in this process is to ensure that nobody is tortured during an investigation and their rights are also protected, Nyemah also indicated.

He noted that the constant disappearing of citizens has the propensity to scare investors away from the country. He called law enforcement officials to bring perpetrator to book, stressing that overstayed pretrial detainees in corrections palaces is a complete violation of  rights – something justice actors, most especially the office of the county attorney, should intervene into quickly.