Justice Minister resigns-President accepts

 Former Justice Minister Christiana Tah

In a major blow to the Unity Party-led government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Justice Minister Christiana Tah has tendered in her resignation. The former Justice Minister is said to have cited a litany of reasons ranging from the undermining of her office, which prevented her from investigating allegations of fraud against the National Security Agency to a wide range of issues bordering interference from the Executive Branch.

"I cannot be the minister of Justice and not supervise the operations of the security agencies under the Minister of Justice to independently investigate allegations of fraud against the National Security Agency.

What is the rule of law if a duly appointed Minister of Justice with oversight has grave concerns about what her violational resignation will mean for her own personal security and freedom as a Liberian citizen," an excerpt of the letter of resignation by the Justice Minister.

Minister Tah's resignation letter was reportedly tendered to the government after serving the Ellen Johnson-led government for six years. Cllr. Tah told a news conference in Monrovia Monday that she had respectfully asked the President to accept her resignation.

"These are perilous times of our nation and I take solace in our resilience as a people as I pray that we learn and emerge from the challenges of our nation building stronger," she said.

She thanked President Sirleaf for the opportunity to serve her country in the capacity of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for six years, adding: "I thanked the Liberian people for your support, cooperation and understanding in even the most difficult times."

Cllr. Tah succeeded former Justice Minister Francis Johnson Allison, who served as the first Justice Minister in President Sirleaf's government. An Executive Mansion release issued late evening yesterday said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has received and accepted the resignation of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Republic of Liberia, Cllr. Christiana Tah.

According to an Executive Mansion release, Cllr. Tah tendered in her resignation as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Republic of Liberia on Monday, October 6, 2014 at a meeting with the Liberian President at her Foreign Ministry office earlier yesterday. Early this year, the Supreme Court barred Justice Minister from practicing law for six months after being found guilty of contempt.

The ruling cited Tah's decision to grant "compassionate release" to journalist Rodney Sieh, who was jailed last year in connection with a libel case, as the reason for its ruling and her suspension. In 2010, Sieh's Front PageAfrica newspaper printed allegations that Agriculture Minister Chris Toe's ministry could not account for millions of dollars, leading Toe to file a libel claim against the journalist.

Rodney Sieh was jailed in August after failing to produce the US$1.5 million that Toe was awarded by the court. The justice minister allowed the journalist to be released for 30 days in October after he was hospitalized with malaria, which critics say was not compatible with Liberian law.

Toe withdrew his claim in November. The Supreme Court called Sieh's release a disregard of the court's order despite the fact that his right to seek medical treatment while in prison was not surrendered. There have been many recent controversies involving imprisonment of and danger to journalists throughout the world.

Law Society Takes On Top Judges

The Law Society of Swaziland is taking on the kingdom's judiciary, arguing that King Mswati III has appointed judges in violation of the constitution.

An attempt to challenge the appointment as a High Court Judge of Mpendulo Simelane failed on Friday (1 August 2014) when a case at the High Court was dismissed before the Law Society's lawyers arrived at the court.

The Law Society argues that Simelane is too inexperienced to be a High Court Judge. It says the constitution states that a High Court Judge must have at least 10 years' experience in legal practice. The Law Society says Simelane only has five years' experience, which the judge disputes.

In Swaziland, King Mswati rules as an absolute monarch and he chooses the judges. Critics say that Swazi judges tend to do the bidding of the King, rather than uphold the constitution.

The King reappointed Michael Ramodibedi as Chief Justice in contravention of the constitution that states the holder of this position should be a Swazi. Ramodibedi comes from Lesotho.

The three judges on the High Court bench in the Simelane case were themselves inexperienced. The chair, Judge Abande Dlamini, sits in the Industrial Court and had been sworn in as an acting High Court Judge only the day before.

The other two judges on the bench, Justices Mbuso Simelane and Bongani Dlamini are also only acting judges.

Together they dismissed the Law Society's case and awarded punitive damages against the organisation when at 9.30am the case was called three times and the Law Society failed to answer. The Law Society's legal team arrived at the court 15 minutes later.

The Law Society is to appeal the decision. Meanwhile, it is also to challenge the appointment of Judge Abande Dlamini, because, as with Simelane, Dlamini has not been a legal practitioner for at least 10 years.

It also says that Justices Mbuso Simelane and Bongani Dlamini should not hear a case brought by the Law Society because they are themselves members of that organisation.

Judge Mpendulo Simelane was criticised by the United States, the European Union and many human right organisations across the world last month when he sentenced a magazine editor Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko to two years imprisonment after they wrote and published articles critical of the judiciary in general and Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi in particular.

Following the dismissal of the Law Society's application, the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, reported that permanent High Court judges were available to hear the case and it was not necessary to have acting judges on the bench.

It speculated that Chief Justice Ramodibedi did not trust some of the permanent High Court judges.

The newspaper reported that in May 2014 Ramodibedi issued warrants for the arrest of three High Court judges, but had to withdraw them after Supreme Court judges threatened to resign if the arrests went ahead.

The newspaper reported, 'The move to sideline the judges is consistent too with the CJ's recent interview in one of the tabloid weekly publications that some judges were being used to overthrow the Monarch and he would not allow them whilst he was still in charge.

'This recent move by the CJ is a vote of no confidence to the rest of the judges of the High Court to listen to such an application,' the newspaper reported.

courtsy of SLS

International Criminal Court Opens Second Probe Into Central African Republic Violence

 The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that she is opening a second investigation into the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) with respect to crimes allegedly committed since 2012.

Fatou Bensouda recalled in a statement issued to the press that in February of this year, following an escalation of violence in CAR, she opened a new preliminary examination to assess whether or not to proceed with an investigation into what was a "dire" situation in the country.

Thousands of people are estimated to have been killed in CAR in a conflict which erupted when mainly Muslim Séléka rebels launched attacks in December 2012 and then took on increasingly sectarian overtones as mainly Christian militias known as anti-Balaka (anti-machete) took up arms.

"My Office has gathered and scrupulously analysed relevant information from multiple reliable sources. Based on this independent and comprehensive analysis, I have concluded that an investigation is warranted," said Ms. Bensouda.

"The information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that both the Séléka and the anti-Balaka groups have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, rape, forced displacement, persecution, pillaging, attacks against humanitarian missions and the use of children under 15 in combat.

"The list of atrocities is endless. I cannot ignore these alleged crimes."

CAR - specifically the events relating to the events of 2002-2003 - was already one of eight situations already under investigation by the Court, along with the Darfur region of Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Libya, Mali and northern Uganda.

The transitional government of CAR decided to refer the situation to the Prosecutor's Office on 30 May 2014, requesting the investigation into alleged crimes falling within the ICC's jurisdiction committed in the country since 1 August 2012.

"The 30 May 2014 referral by the CAR authorities demonstrates a commitment to fight impunity for mass crimes and to bring justice to the victims. We look forward to their full cooperation as we conduct our investigation into these crimes," said Ms. Bensouda.

"As the investigation moves forward, we will continue to record any new crime against civilians that might be committed in CAR," she added.

"Mass crimes shock the conscience of humanity and tear at the social fabric of society. Let this be a message to would-be perpetrators in CAR and beyond: such crimes will not be tolerated and will be met with the full force of the law."