By Chernor Alimamy Kamara in Monrovia
In order to prevent and manage electoral crisis in the sub-region, the ECOWAS Parliament recommended for Political Parties to play a pro-active role in the use of the judiciary before, during and after elections.
The aforementioned recommendation was made by former Liberian Minister of Justice, Councilor Benedict F. Sannoh during his presentation at the ECOWAS de-localised meeting in Monrovia, on the role of the judiciary in the management of electoral crisis at the Liberian Ministerial complex on the 27th July, 2023.
In his presentation, Councilor Sannoh urged political parties to collaborate in raising issues that require judicial determination. He also recommended the monitoring of every statutory, regulatory, and administrative action taken by the elections commission, the legislature or institutions within the Executive Branch of the Government leading to the conduct of elections with the view to engage in sustained advocacy.
He added that if advocacy fails to achieve the desired results, recourse to Court can be taken with the view to determining the extent to which the challenged action is consistent with the Constitution and the elections Laws.
He said that Supreme Court Opinions on Elections should be widely published to enhance the preventive value of the opinions in furtherance of avoiding electoral disputes. He also recommended that an independent quasi administrative judicial body be established to conduct investigations of electoral disputes involving the conduct of the National Elections Commission instead of Hearing Officers who themselves are employees of the Electoral Commission.
Councilor Sannoh noted that elections are critical to democratic governance which has the will of the people as its anchor, saying through elections, the will of the people and the power inherent in them are exercised.
He said since the constitution created an Autonomous Elections Commission and grants the Legislature power to enact laws for its operations, and grants rights to people to file complaints, the exercise of all delegated powers must be consistent with the constitution, read as a whole or void where inconsistent.
He further said that after the preventive phase of the judiciary, the adjudication of disputes immediately prior, during, and after including the counting of votes and announcement of results came to the fore.
He referenced Liberian law and practice where the Supreme Court exercises appellate jurisdiction over all disputes arising during the course of these processes from the Board of Commissioners of the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
‘’Election laws set time frames for the adjudication of electoral disputes by the Supreme Court, and the Court has operated within these time frames,’’ he said.
Sannoh mentioned areas of concern which he said remain the call for the establishment of an independent quasi administrative judicial body to conduct investigations of electoral disputes involving the conduct of the National Elections Commission instead of Hearing Officers who themselves are employees of the Elections Commission. He said the cases normally coming to the Supreme Court have invariably being issues of allegations of fraud and irregularities in the conduct of the elections and allegations of violations of the Constitution, election Laws and the Rules and Regulations governing the conduct of elections.
He further said that the Supreme Courts should be keen on the question of adherence to fundamental rights articulated in the constitution especially on the question of no one being deprived of liberty, property, privilege or any other right except as an outcome of a hearing consistent with the provisions of the constitutions and in accordance with due process of law.
Councilor Sannoh went further to note that the trends in the opinions of the court have been its reluctant to set aside election results in totality, due to allegations of fraud, irregularities and violations of the election laws. He said that elections laws are considered valid and should be treated as valid until contrary evidence or proof is provided. He concluded that if elections results are to be set aside on the basis of allegations of fraud, irregularities, violations of the election laws, there must be evidence to support and establish such fraud, irregularities or violations.
The aforementioned discussion was centered on the theme, ‘’ Enhancing Political Inclusivity in the Participatory Governance Process: A Mechanism for promoting peace and security.’’
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