The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, Nigeria has dismissed an application filed by the Government of Liberia against the impeached Associate Justice, Kabineh Muhammad Ja’neh.
Early this year, the government requested the ECOWAS Community Court to review its November 10, 2020 judgment which was rendered in favor of Cllr. Ja’neh against the State.
In its judgment, the Court of Justice ordered the government to restore and pay Cllr. Ja’neh all his withheld entitlements, including salaries, allowances and pensions benefits as from the date of his indictment from the Supreme Court to the date of notification of the judgment.
The ECOWAS Court ordered Liberia “To reinstate the Applicant, Kabineh Muhammad Ja’neh, as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; or, in the alternative, to grant the applicant the right to retire from service on the date of the notification with full pension benefits as if he had retired at the normal retirement age of the Supreme Court.”
The November 10, 2020 judgment directed the payment of US$200,000 to Cllr. Ja’neh for what the court termed as “Reparation for moral prejudice suffered for violation of his rights.”
The ECOWAS Community Court gave the Liberian Government six month to fully comply with the November 10, 2020 judgment, but after the decision was rendered, providing the six months for compliance, the Weah-led Government on February 1, filed two applications resisting the ECOWAS Community Court’s ruling.
In the first application, the government requested the ECOWAS Court to review the November 10, 2020 judgment; contending that it violates the legislative sovereignty of the Republic of Liberia.
The Government also argued that the declaration made by the ECOWAS Community Court that the impeachment was a “violation of the applicant’s right to due process” was a gross oversight; and has therefore committed “A serious palpable error.”
But in its judgment over the weekend, the ECOWAS Community Court dismissed the application for Judgment Review in its entirety for lack of legal merits and also denied the Weah-led Government’s request that Chief Justice Edward Amoako Asante recuses himself from sitting in any and all matters coming before the ECOWAS Court in which Liberia is a party.
The government is accusing Justice Asante of being partial and bias which according to the ECOWAS Court, is factually and legally groundless.
Meanwhile, the ECOWAS Community Court has ordered the Liberian government to fully comply with the judgment without any delay.
Speaking to reporters after the court’s judgment. Cllr. Ja’neh said, “The law is the law and no political maneuvering by the Weah-led Government will change this incontestable fact.” Cllr. Ja’neh also noted that he has been informed by several “High ups” within the government that it will remain resolute in its defiance of the regional court’s ruling.
Cllr Ja’neh intimated that there are adequate legal remedies to deal with matters of defiance of the ECOWAS Court’s ruling which include the seeking of imposition of sanctions on a disobeying member country of ECOWAS by an aggrieved party and hopes Liberia will not travel that route.