UP wants Chief Justice recused

By Lincoln G. Peters

Opposition Unity Party (UP) has demanded Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh’s recusal from the hearing of a challenge against Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean’s nomination to serve as an Associate Justice.

The UP motion filed Tuesday, 9 January 2023 before the Supreme Court could drag the main court hearing concerning a petition for a writ of prohibition that should conclude before Cllr. Dean would face the Liberian Senate for his confirmation hearing.

However, the Supreme Court did not immediately hear the UP’s motion for the Chief Justice’s recusal because the rival parties in the case had said they were not served with the instrument filed.

The petition for a writ of prohibition will be heard after the hearing of the motion seeking the recusal of the Chief Justice.

The court deferred the hearing of the matter for another day to be announced.

At the start of the Supreme Court’s hearing of UP’s petition for a writ of prohibition against a planned Senate confirmation hearing of Cllr. Dean’s nomination, the UP notified the Court that it had filed a pending motion for the Chief Justice’s recusal.

The UP said in its pending motion of recusal, it is requesting the recusal of Chief Justice Yuoh from the case based on some proximity she allegedly has with Minister Dean.

“Petitioner notified this court that there is a motion filed pending before the court and it should be looked at and handled first before looking at the petition,” the UP lawyers said. 

“We informed the court that the motion for recusal was filed January 8, 2024, [praying] for the recusal of Chief Justice Yuoh from this proceeding,’’ they noted.

Reacting to the UP motion, Liberia’s Solicitor General Cllr. Nyanati Tuan and two other respondents in the case said the motion for the Chief Justice’s recusal was an ambush.

Tuan lamented that they were taken by surprise over the filing of the motion.

“The motion needs to be fundamentally and legally observed at this time because it lacks legal standing,” Cllr. Tuan argued. 

“This motion was never served on us, therefore, we are taken by surprise and we have been ambushed. Until we can be served the motion we can’t respond,” he added. 

The State lawyer requested the court not to hear the motion for the Chief Justice’s recusal, pleading that it should be denied.

Additionally, the second and third respondents in the case said Chapter 8.2 of the Civil Procedure Law of Liberia provides that motion shall be served on the opposing parties in the case.

They argued that unfortunately, the UP has not served the respondents in the case with the motion for recusal.

After listening to the various arguments and law citations, Chief Justice Yuoh declined to hear the motion for her recusal, saying the court takes record as to the time the motion was filed.

“This court … observed from the record that the said motion to recuse was filed … one day before the assigned hearing of the petitioner’s writ of prohibition,” she said.

“This court says that notice is a cardinal principle of law which in this case is lacking. Hence, this matter is hereby deferred for hearing for another day to be announced by this court and is hereby so ordered,” she noted.

Lawyers of Liberia’s Supreme Court bar appeared before the high court on Tuesday to debate Justice Minister Dean’s nomination to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court bench.

Outgoing President George Manneh Weah nominated Cllr. Dean for the top job, but the opposition Unity Party challenged a planned Senate confirmation hearing for Cllr. Dean.

The Court halted the planned Senate hearing pending the outcome of the matter brought before it.

There are questions if there is any vacancy on the Supreme Court bench to warrant Cllr. Dean’s nomination by incumbent President Weah.

Dean is supposed to replace ailing Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe, but the latter’s request for an early retirement is being debated by those who say he has not served the required time to be granted this request.

Cllr. Dean’s nomination has stirred controversies across Liberia with less than a month for Mr. Weah’s administration to expire.

According to the Executive Mansion, President Weah granted Associate Justice Nagbe’s early retirement request, a move also criticized by some members of the public.

Associate Justice Nagbe was nominated by President Weah and confirmed by the Liberia Senate in August 2018, replacing retired Associate Justice Philip A.Z. Banks.

Through its National Chairman Rev. Luther Tarpeh, the National Secretary General, Amos Tweh, and all other officials, the Unity Party filed a petition for the writ of prohibition against the confirmation of Minister Dean.

Following the Unity Party’s petition, the court ordered the leadership of the Senate, Cllr. Dean and all those under his authority … to appear and file their returns and brief before the full bench of the court before 8 January 2024.

The court ordered them to show cause why UP’s petition should not be granted.

The court instructed the Senate to stay all further procedures or actions pending the determination of the matter.