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It seems that the repeated appeals by the former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Liberia, Cllr. Philips Banks to the United Nations and other friendly humanitarian institutions to help the government in the justice area have begun to materialize with a huge financial assistance from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the tune of US$1,8m dollars towards improving the justice sector of the country.
The assistance, according to the Program Manager for the UNDP Rule of Law Project, Atty. James Verdier, is intended to strengthen the country’s criminal justice sector after fourteen years of civil war that had severely broken the judicial system.
The project, he said, is code-named “Strengthening State prosecution to fortify Government’s criminal justice system” and will also assist in advancing prosecution and administrative services at the Ministry of Justice, while at the same time dealing with the question of weaknesses which have characterized the nation’s justices system for the past years.
Atty. Verdier said under the project, a more robust mechanism will be employed in making sure that everything is done humanly possible through the involvement of the UNDP and other international donor institutions to help clean up the weaknesses within the Liberian justice sector, so that credibility and the integrity of the judiciary and the justice system can be respected.
Speaking further during a strategic meeting on prosecution by some legal experts and key state actors, Atty. Verdier said the project is expected to last for at least eighteen consecutive months, “but very serious political will from the government is required if donor institutions must always help improve the justice system”.
He said the rule of law and respect for the fundamental civil liberties of the people, particularly the ordinary people, must at all times be respected by what he called as the elites in the society.
He said if the inalienable rights of the people are trampled upon, there is bound to be civil unrest and chaos in any given society.
This is why, Atty. Verdier said the UNDP sponsored “Rule of Law “project will help to ensure that at the end of the day, the Ministry of Justice will be strengthened in the best way possible.
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