By: T. Lula Jaurey tqlulajaurey@gmail.com
IPNews-Monrovia-Liberia-Tuesday 4 December 2018: After being dumped by the supreme court of Liberia whom he is a member of, Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh is again before that honorable body but, this time pledging with the Court to order the service of the writ of summons be quashed because of the improper service since the senate has not acquired legal, valid or proper jurisdiction over his (Ja’neh) impeachment.
Justice Ja’neh submission of this special appearance is for the sole purpose of contesting the jurisdiction of the senate over him due to legal and factual reasons indicated in his nine count petition to the honorable Supreme Court.
It may be recall on November 19, 2018, Associate Justice Ja’neh was served a writ of summons and a purported Bill of Impeachment emanating from the House of Representatives.
The writ of summons instructed Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh to file returns to the writ of summons within ten days following the issuance of said writ of summons.
Justice Ja’neh argued that since the validity and constitutionality of both the bill of impeachment and the amended rule 63 have not been determined by the Supreme Court of Liberia, it will not be legally permissible to file returns to the writ of summons issue him by the senate.
He further maintained that it will also be illegal for the senate to proceed with the trail in the absence of the supreme court’s determination that the bill of impeachment and senate amended rule 63 are valid and constitutional.
“Under the Provision of Article 43 of the constitution, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia presides over the impeachment trial of an Associate Justice. In his capacity as the procedure law, only a presiding judge can legally authority the issuance and service of a writ off summons. Therefore, the presiding officer, the chief justice of the supreme court, was the proper person to have authorized the issuance and service of the writ of summons,” the justice petition indicated.
Meanwhile, the presiding pro tempore is one of the associate Justice Ja’neh’s jurors in the impeachment trial and is therefore an interesting party with an interest in the outcome of the trail.
Justice is further praying the Court to disqualified the pro tempore from ordering the issuance and service of the writ of summons on him and that it was improper for section 3 of alleged amended rule 63 to authorize the president pro tempore to instruct the secretary of the senate to send the writ of summons.
