By staff writer
Monrovia-the Resident Circuit Judge of the Civil Law Court in Montserrado County Judge J. Kennedy Peabody says the court continuous delay of ejectment (land) cases that are increasing the docket alarmingly in the name of submitting those cases for a jury trial and denying party litigants (individuals) speedy trial is a contributing factor to unscrupulous land sale and violence.
Judge Peabody speaking Monday, September 18, 2023, during the opening of the Civil Law Court in Montserrado said it has been established that there is in-fact a danger to the continued pending of ejectment cases before the court.
“There is always incontrovertible evidence that due to the prolonged pending cases to be submitted to a jury trial, other parties use the prolonged period for violence and intimidation of the weaker parties and have their lawyers employ legal technicality not to have a speedy trial,” he noted.
He continued: “in so doing, it is the innocent, the poor, and the weaker party litigants who are the direct victims of our legal procedure in land disputes, as a result, the docket is grossly overcrowded. The violence that continues to be prepetrated in land cases must stop and this can only stop if we take the initiative to do so.”
He disclosed that there has been a four-year analysis of cases before the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Law Court, from March 2020 up to and including August 31, 2023, and found that a total of 2, 212 cases were filed before the court, 877 of that number was ejectment cases accounting 39.6%.
He further observed that 103 of these ejectment cases were disposed of, thereby, accounting for 11.7%.
He stated, “it is clear and worth noting that the number of ejectment cases disposed of is far less than the number of cases that are pending undetermined.”
The Judge intoned the analysis on the ejectment cases up to date identify a significant number of weaknesses in the Judiciary system pertaining to slow procedures and inaccessibility of Justice.
According to him, over the years Liberians have experienced the troubling issue of land disputes, therefore, the fast disposition of land cases is a recipe for ensuring stable democracy, rule of law, protection of human rights, and the rights of access to justice for the people.
The judge recommends that a reform of the judicial system that will create new laws to shorten the time of litigation and quick access to justice.
He added that investigative survey is a prima facie evidence for summary judgment in ejectment cases, speedy trial, and access to justice for land owners.
