By: Jacqueline Lucia Dennis
IPNEWS-Monrovia: The resident and presiding Judge J. Kennedy Peabody of the Sixth Judicial Circuit for Montserrado County Civil Law Court on Monday March 20,2023, called for the ‘right thing to be done’ as Lawyers.
Judge Peabody made the statement Monday March 20,2023, at the formal opening of the Civil Law Court Sixth Judicial Circuit Montserrado County indicating that there is only one Civil Law Court no Civil Law Court A, no Civil Law Court B.
He said the Civil Law Annex is there to help clear the docket. He said “you can have the plaintiff in the mean Civil Law Court and then in the Civil Law Annex that Plaintiff is the defendant,” something he pointed out was unethical and Lawyer should be the ones telling their clients that there is one Civil Law Court.
He emphasized that the one Civil Law Court is created by an Act of the Legislature with its own jurisdiction so Lawyers cannot refer to the Civil Law Court A & B maintaining that the Chief Justice has the right to assign many judges to preside and clear the docket.
According to him, the court has worked with the court administrative officer along with one Mr. Cooper to have a new design of a divorce certificate and that certificate will only be signed by a Judge who will preside over that divorced case and the clerk will be Victor G. Gailor even when another Judge hears a divorce case in the annex.
He said the reason is that they have noticed that some clerks are signing divorce certificates whenever the Judge is not around. Judge Peabody noted that the right thing must be done but claimed that most of those things have been done by Lawyers who are stakeholders and the is a need for things to change.
He also revealed that there is a situation where files are filed in the annex and then it gets missing. “People come and looked for the file and cannot still see it, so from now on all filing must passed through the office on the filing clerk because that office is the only office of the Civil Law Court.” The Civil Law Court has one clerk, Victor G. Gailor.
Also speaking on the opening program Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh added her voice to Judge Peabody’s that the Civil Law Court is one court, and the Annex is there to clear the docket. She said Lawyers must tell their clients that the Civil Law Court is a one court instead of telling them there is Civil Law Court A and B. but rather the is an annex that helps to clear the docket.
She said few years back the Civil Law Court was overwhelmed with cases and majority of the cases in the Civil Law Court are tried by jury’. She noted that lawyers have complained and most of the citizens complained that their cases have been delayed. So not to disturb functions of the Legislature which by constitution, has the right to create subordinate Courts to the Supreme Court. She concluded they at the Judiciary thought to have an Annex another place with a judge to preside and to help out with the docket.
