Monrovia – The Supreme Courtroom has issued a Invoice of Info summoning His Honor J. Boima Kontoe, Assigned Choose of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Regulation Courtroom, the court docket’s Sheriff and a number of people linked to a Class “C” Mining License in Gbarpolu County in a growth that alerts escalating judicial scrutiny over mining disputes in Liberia.
By Willie N. Tokpah
The transfer follows a failed try by Cllr. Frank Musah Dean Jr., former Minister of Justice, who had earlier filed a Writ of Prohibition looking for to halt actions taken by Choose Kontoe in reference to a contentious mining declare in Smith City, Gbarma Statutory District.
That petition was denied by Justice-In- Chambers, Her Honor Jamesetta H. Wolokollie, reportedly on account of procedural points and failure to satisfy the authorized threshold for prohibition
Undeterred, Cllr. Dean has returned to the Supreme Courtroom, this time by a Invoice of Info, contending that there was a violation of authorized procedures and usurpation of jurisdiction by the Civil Regulation Courtroom.
The Full Bench of the Excessive Courtroom has now taken possession of the matter and has ordered the named respondents to look earlier than it on Monday, October 13, at 10:00 a.m.
The Respondents embody, Choose J. Boima Kontoe, sixth Judicial Circuit, Sheriff, Civil Regulation Courtroom, Montserrado County, T. David Sluward and Abraham Kamara, alleged holders of a Class “C” Mining License for Declare #12F/Survey in Smith City, Gbarma in addition to
Mohammed Kamara, also called “JR”, of Smith City, Gbarma District.
The Supreme Courtroom has instructed its Marshal, Brig./Gen. Amos B. Kesseh Dickson, Sr., to serve the writ and make sure that official returns are filed by all respondents on or earlier than October 13.
Land, Regulation and the Battle for Mineral Rights
On the middle of the case is a Class “C” Artisanal Mining License issued for Declare #12F in Smith City, an space in Gbarpolu County identified for its gold-rich soil and steadily contested claims.
Stories recommend that actions taken by the Civil Regulation Courtroom could have enabled or facilitated mining entry in favor of people allegedly with out correct authorized authority, prompting intervention by the previous Lawyer Basic.
The Invoice of Info now filed seeks to alert the Supreme Courtroom to what the Informant believes are deliberate acts by a decrease court docket and personal events that contravene the Supreme Courtroom’s jurisdiction and the regulation governing mineral rights.
The usage of a Invoice of Info, relatively than one other writ, alerts that the matter could now be positioned as a constitutional difficulty or one involving interference with the Supreme Courtroom’s authority.
In line with authorized analysts, the success of the Invoice wouldn’t solely put aside any enforcement motion by the decrease court docket. Nonetheless, it may set off a judicial evaluation of how mining disputes are adjudicated in Liberia’s post-war authorized order.
The case will now be heard by the Full Bench of the Supreme Courtroom.
Ought to the Supreme Courtroom grant the aid sought within the Invoice of Info, it may have a chilling impact on judicial officers and personal people engaged within the controversial use or allocation of pure useful resource claims with out clear authorized standing.
This case comes at a time when Liberia continues to grapple with the governance of its profitable however loosely regulated artisanal mining sector.
As land conflicts and overlapping mining permits proceed to plague rural counties like Gbarpolu, Bomi and Nimba, the Supreme Courtroom’s ruling could grow to be a landmark judgment in restoring procedural self-discipline and authorized order in mining disputes.
Cllr. Dean, a long-standing authorized determine and former Justice Minister below the Weah Administration, is believed to be pursuing the matter not simply as counsel however doubtlessly in furtherance of broader authorized and constitutional considerations associated to judicial overreach and government powers in useful resource administration.
