USAID/OTI Liberia Success Story
February 2007
Support to the Judiciary Is Expediting Justice for All in Liberia
USAID/OTI's BRDG-Liberia program was initiated in September 2006 to support the political transition prompted by the free and fair election of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa.
The Building Recovery and Reform through Democratic Governance (BRDG) program assists the Government of Liberia and other key actors to further the following political objectives:
- Improving capacity in such areas as planning, budgeting, communication, and coordination with relevant counterparts
- Mounting effective responses to high-visibility issues
- Strengthening the Mano River Union by supporting cooperative regional activities
The USAID Mission in Liberia, USAID's Africa Bureau, and the Office of Democracy and Governance are key players in the coordination of the BRDG program.
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| The clerk of the court prepares to record court proceedings. |
The judicial branch of the Liberian Government is responsible for providing justice to all citizens, irrespective of status, in a timely manner. During Liberia's civil war, however, the judiciary lost much of its equipment, as well as furniture, legal books, and case records, to looting. The losses mean that the courts have no place to properly store case files. Furthermore, since the end of the conflict, the Liberian courts have had to rely on typewriters to document legal proceedings. The typewriters are noisy and disruptive, and if a typewriter is not available, a clerk recorder must record court hearings by hand. This process causes delays because the clerk must slow - or even stop - the proceedings in order to record them accurately. Aware of the problems, judges and lawyers also slow the pace of proceedings.
These factors disrupt case processing and delay the dispensation of justice. As a result, the public sees the judiciary as slow and inefficient. A sustained lack of confidence in the court system has the potential to encourage aggrieved parties to take justice into their own hands, which could lead to instability that could jeopardize the peace that Liberia is beginning to experience.
To address this ongoing problem, OTI's BRDG-Liberia program has provided Liberia's Supreme Court with an integrated electronic recording system. The modern recording equipment was installed just days before the opening of this year's Supreme Court hearings and has had an immediate and positive impact on the court's efficiency and capacity. In addition, OTI provided criminal practice texts and "private wrongs" and traffic law materials to 100 judges and public defenders who did not have access to these important legal resources. OTI has also equipped the court with custom-made adjustable shelving to facilitate its case-file management system. This combined intervention is helping rebuild the Liberian people's faith in their justice system.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington: John Gattorn, Program Manager, 202-712-4168, jgattorn@usaid.gov
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