As Growing Calls For Urgent Reform Of 2006 Law Intensifies
Monrovia, Liberia – Legal experts and justice advocates in Liberia are calling for a major review of the country’s 2006 amended law relating to juries, warning that the current system is steadily losing public confidence and threatening the credibility of the judiciary. At the center of the debate is Liberia’s jury system, which was established to ensure public participation in the administration of justice.
However, concerns over alleged manipulation, bribery, and weak qualification standards have intensified demands for urgent reform. Ambassador Emmanuel N. Johnson, in a legal commentary published Sunday, argued that although the 2006 amendment was introduced with good intentions, it no longer reflects the realities facing Liberia’s justice system today.
Under Section 18.2 of the amended law, any Liberian citizen aged 21 and above is qualified to serve as a juror if the person has not been convicted of an infamous crime, can speak and understand English, is mentally and physically fit, and has not served on a jury within the previous year. The law was intended to promote inclusiveness, equal representation, and democratic participation by allowing ordinary citizens to directly take part in judicial proceedings and help determine the outcome of trials.
But Johnson said the system has become increasingly vulnerable to manipulation, largely because of widespread poverty, economic hardship, and weak institutional safeguards that make jurors susceptible to outside influence. He noted that many citizens now believe some jurors participate in trials not entirely out of civic duty, but because of the financial benefits attached to jury service, creating doubts about the fairness of verdicts.
According to him, this growing distrust weakens the rule of law, damages public confidence in the courts, and opens the door for corruption, impunity, and instability within the justice system. Johnson is therefore calling for stronger qualification standards that go beyond citizenship, age, and residency, arguing that jurors should also be assessed based on education, moral character, emotional stability, civic understanding, and their ability to evaluate evidence independently.
He stressed that such reforms are not meant to exclude poor citizens, but to ensure that those deciding the liberty, property, and future of others possess the competence and impartiality needed to deliver justice fairly. He warned that failure to reform the current system could lead to repeated retrials, prolonged delays, financial losses, and the collapse of high-profile criminal and civil cases, while also affecting national security, investor confidence, and democratic stability.
While acknowledging that the framers of the 2006 amendment acted patriotically in a post-war Liberia seeking inclusiveness, Johnson said the time has now come for lawmakers, judges, the Liberia National Bar Association, and civil society groups to begin serious national dialogue on meaningful jury reform.
Reported by: Prince Saah
