Associate Justice at the Supreme Court of Liberia, Sie-A-Nyeneh G. Yuoh has been nominated as Chief Justice to replace outgoing Chief Justice, Francis Saye Korkpor whose tenure of service come to an end on Monday, 05 September, 2022.
She was nominated early this week by the President to the Liberian Senate when he officially nominated Cllr. Sie-A-Nyeneh G. Yuoh through a communication forwarded to the Liberian Senate in consonance with Article 54 (c) of the 1986 of the Constitution of Liberia.
Article 54 (c) of the Constitution gives the President the powers to nominate and, with the consent of the Senate appoint and commission Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia.
In line with the Constitution, the Liberian leader on Tuesday named Associate Justice as a possible replacement for outgoing Chief Justice Francis Saye Korkpor whose tenure of service ends on Monday, 5 September, 2022.
As part of legislative practice, the Communication nominating the Chief Justice designate was forwarded to Senate Statutory Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, Claims and Petitions with a mandate to conduct confirmation hearing for the nominee.
Plenary’s decision followed the reading of the communication sent from the Chief Executive, President George Weah on the nomination of Associate Justice Yuoh as Chief Justice Designate of the republic of Liberia.
As part of the mandate, the Committee was charged to conduct confirmation hearing beginning at 11:00 A.M. on Friday in the Chambers of the Liberian Senate.
However, as a matter of requirement, the Senate Judiciary Committee has requested the nominee to submit thirty (35) copies of her curriculum vitae and any supporting credentials to aid the Committee in the confirmation proceeding, to the office of Secretary of Senate, J. Nanborlor F. Singbeh Sr. not later than 12:00 noon on Thursday, August 25, 2022.
Cllr. Yuoh, 65, is the third female lawyer to have been named to the highest office of the Judiciary Branch of government. The first being Counselor Gloria Musu-Scott followed by Frances Johnson-Allison.
She was once married to politician Edwin Snowe, who was previously married to the daughter of Charles Taylor. She has ten children and two grandchildren.
Yuoh worked in the Liberian government, as an Assistant Minister for Legal Affairs from 1983-1985 and as the Coordinator of African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988-1990.
From 2000-2003 she worked for the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), where she came under criticism for receiving “excessive Board of Director fees”, before serving as Acting Executive Director and then Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission from 2011 until 2013.
In 2013, she was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, one of two women among the court’s five justices.
In April 2016, a Robert International Airport security officer was imprisoned for a week on charges after Yuoh complained that he had disrespected her.
In October 2016, Yuoh lifted a stay order on the holding of the election for Speaker of the House of Representatives, declining Alexander J. Tyler’s plea that he was removed unconstitutionally leading to the election of her husband’s friend Emmanuel Nuquay.
In March 2017, Yuoh was one of the three justices who voted in favor of the controversial new National Code of Conduct which prohibits officials appointed by the President from engaging in political activities.
Yuoh was born in Montserrado County, and educated at a catholic high school (Saint Teresa Convent) in 1974 in Monrovia.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Cuttington University in (1978) and a Bachelor of Laws from the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia.
She poised to replace outgoing Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor, Sr., who was born in a small village called Zao, Lao Clan, lower Nimba County, in the Republic of Liberia.
Due to the fact that there was no school in his home village, Chief Justice Korkpor began his formative years of education in a nearby village called Kpain where he was sent to live with an aunt.
Chief Justice Korkpor then gained admission, as a boarding student, to the St. Mary’s Catholic School in Sanniquellie City where he completed his elementary, junior and senior high school education.
In 1972, His Honor Francis S. Korkpor, Sr, enrolled at the University of Liberia in pursuit of higher education where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Sociology in 1976. Upon graduation from university, Chief Justice Korkpor was employed with the Ministry of Justice in the Criminal Rehabilitation Division as a Research Coordinator from where he was granted a scholarship by the US Government to study Criminal Justice at the N. C. Justice Academy at Salemburg, North Carolina, USA, after a year on the job.
Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor, Sr. returned home in 1978 and subsequently enrolled at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia where he obtained his LLB Degree in 1982.
Mr. Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor, Sr. began his public and professional services at the Ministry of Justice, Republic of Liberia, where he was first recruited as a Research Coordinator immediately upon obtaining his BA degree from the University of Liberia. His service at the Ministry of Justice, also witnessed his rise to leadership positions within the government of Liberia specifically serving as Assistant Minister for Economic Affairs, Assistant Minister for Legal Affairs, and then Deputy Minister for Legal Affairs.
Due to the civil war in Liberia, like many other Liberians, Chief Justice Korkpor left the country in 1990. He however returned in 1991 and went into private law practice. He established the Tiala Law Associates, Inc., and for about 13 consecutive years, served as its Managing Director. Notable amongst the clients he worked for was the Catholic Church in Liberia and its affiliate institutions. He was also a member of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, a human rights organization and for many years, served as its Chairman of the Board of Directors.
In 2004, during the reign of the National Transitional Government of Liberia then, Counsellor Francis S. Korkpor, Sr. was appointed to the Supreme Court of Liberia as Associate Justice for the period of two years, a position to which he was nominated and subsequently reappointed by Her Excellency, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf upon assuming the Presidency of the Country in 2006.
On April 18, 2013, His Honor Francis S. Korkpor, Sr. was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, a position he currently occupies.
