Monrovia, Liberia – In one of the most direct internal challenges to a Chief Justice in recent judicial history, a sitting circuit judge publicly accused Chief Justice Yarmie Q. Gbeisay of abusing his power and violating judicial welfare standards during the official opening of the November Term of Court in Grand Kru County.
The Chief Justice rejected his plea for a temporary reassignment to a jurisdiction close to Monrovia where specialized care is available, according to Assigned Circuit Judge Cllr. George W. Smith, who told the audience that he had a “critical medical operation” six days prior to his deployment. Under the pretense of principle and improvement, the judge claimed that the order endangered his health.
In the section of his Judge’s Charge that addressed the issue, Judge Smith said, “This is excessive abuse of power, an ardent desire to flex authority. This is authoritarianism, oppression, and the imposition of rigid deference to authority at the price of individual freedom in this case, my human right to health.”
The comments weren’t accidental. To ensure ongoing and public notice, they were read into the court record and written into the official charge.
Judge Smith went to express another financial grievance: he asked the Chief Justice to reimburse him US$3,280, which he had personally used to pre-finance some work at the Civil Law Court, where he had previously been assigned. He explained to the Chief Justice how urgently he needed the money to pay for his medical expenses.
Smith said, “He demanded that I write a formal letter to him, knowing that I was going to leave Monrovia for assignment and not even showing the least empathy for my medical condition.”
He backed up his assertion about the right to health with both international accords and Liberian law. The Republic’s strategy is guided by Article 8 of the Liberian Constitution to ensure decent living conditions and to promote health.
He went on to say that states must forbid third parties, in this instance, the Chief Justice from interfering with the right to health, citing the Convention on the Right to Health. “The Duty of Circuit Riding, Taking Justice and the Rule of Law to the Doorsteps of the People” was the title of Judge Smith’s opening remarks, which served as the context for his charges.
He complimented circuit riding’s national benefits, pointing out that it helps judges become more acquainted with the socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds of the people they serve and tries to ensure uniformity of legal rules across the nation. He did, however, imply that the Chief Justice exploited this obligation as a weapon of personal power against him rather than for the good of the public.
Credit: Victoria G. Wesseh
