The Judiciary has dedicated eight new offices that will host several capacity building programs, geared toward improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Judiciary Branch of government.
The construction came about as a result of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supporting some of the Judiciary’s projects.
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, the Court Administrator, Cllr. Elizabeth J. Nelson, explained that the motivation to move forward with the development is due to the growing demands for increased access to justice and also to ensure that support received from the Government of Liberia (GOL) and partners, including the government of Sweden and the UNDP office in Liberia, is fully utilized to the benefit of the nation.
Cllr. Nelson said the new Judiciary facility will host a Judiciary Inquirer Commission (JIC) office and a conference room (where JIC hearing will be held), additional public defender offices, Supreme Court Opinions Binding workroom supported by the American Bar Association (ABA), Case Management Unit (CMU) supported by the UNDP, Fixed Assets Management Unit and employees insurance office, as well as an extension of personnel office.
The UNDP Resident Representative, Violet Baffour, added that they are committed to supporting the Judiciary and other actors in the rule of law to ensure the people of Liberia receive Justice expediently and transparently.
Baffour further explained that the current case management information system, which tracks cases online in real time, is intended to increase efficiency in case disposal, reduction of case backlogs on the docket and pre- trial detention.
“We know that one of the ways to measure efficiency of the justice system is to track and measure the progress of cases against the number of cases received, disposed of and length of time it takes to dispose a case,” she said.
Baffour noted that the system will help them as users and custodians of Liberia’sjustice system to do just that, as well as help to identifybottlenecks to delivering justice expediently.
According to her, the training of 25 Judiciary staff for the case management information systems training is yet another example of the collective resolve, adding that the 25 staff will serve as trainers for the Judiciary, transferring the knowledge they acquire during the training to their colleagues and supporting them as they begin to use the case management information system.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of Liberia, Francis Korkpor, stated that dedicating the new offices will help host some of institutions that have been created since the establishment of the Judiciary.
“We identified and talked to our international partners to come so that we will be able to help in building offices,” he continued.
He said that the Judiciary Inquirer Commission is an important organization, and the new Judiciary facility will comprise a space to host it.