Summary:
- Liberia's Senate Judiciary Committee has begun consultations on six competing bills to establish a war and economic crimes court and a national anti-corruption court, with public hearings expected to begin in July.
- Advocates say the consultations provide an opportunity to resolve major differences over the appointment of the Registrar and Prosecutor, the structure of appeals and other provisions before the bills are presented to the public.
- Civil society organizations and Human Rights Watch welcomed the process but urged senators to preserve international standards and ensure public hearings are transparent, inclusive and meaningful.
Liberia's Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, Claims and Petitions this week began consultations on six competing bills to establish a war and economic crimes court and a national anti-corruption court, the first step in an effort to harmonize the legislation before public hearings expected to begin in July.
The consultations come after years of competing legislative proposals and months of delays over the Office for the Establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court's own draft bills. The session was not open to the media. But advocates who attended the opening meeting Wednesday said they were encouraged by senators' willingness to address key differences among the proposals before they are presented to the public.
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"From the conversation today, I know that they are open-minded; they are willing to proceed with the process based on the resolution," said Esther Yango, executive director of the Women's NGOs Secretariat of Liberia, in an interview. "We are looking forward to engaging with them strategically, so that we can be part of their consultations with the citizens so that we would not lose the narrative, because we have done a lot of work and we don't want that to change."
The consultations mark another step in Liberia's decades-long effort to establish a court to hold accountable those accused of atrocities committed during the country's two civil wars. Justice advocates and international legal experts say resolving differences among the competing bills before public hearings will be critical to creating courts that meet international standards and can effectively prosecute those accused of widespread human rights violations, including rape, torture, murder, forced disappearance, forced displacement, the recruitment of child soldiers and other war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The six bills now before lawmakers reflect several competing approaches to establishing the courts. They include a war crimes court bill submitted by the Liberian National Bar Association in 2021; a second war crimes court bill drafted by a coalition of civil society organizations led by the Independent National Commission on Human Rights; separate war crimes and Special Economic and Corruption Crimes Court and and bills introduced by Senate Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence and Senator Joseph Jallah of Lofa County; and , two bills prepared by the Office for the Establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court, one creating a War and Economic Crimes Court and the other a National Anti-Corruption Court.
The Office's draft legislations reached the Legislature only after months of delays. Jallah Barbu, the Office's executive director, had promised in March 2025 that the bills would be completed soon. But a public dispute between Barbu, Justice Minister Oswald Tweh and other senior government officials over the pace of the process slowed their submission.
President Joseph Boakai renewed the Office's mandate earlier this year and directed that it continue receiving its annual US$2 million budget allocation. Barbu had previously said the Office was struggling to operate because of a lack of funding. He did not respond to requests from FrontPage Africa/New Narratives about whether the Office had since received the funds, or any portion of them. Days after Boakai renewed the mandate and reaffirmed the funding, Barbu presented the draft bills to the President. Earlier this month, Boakai forwarded them to the Legislature.
Although all six proposals seek to establish accountability mechanisms, they differ on many fundamental issues, including the crimes that would fall within the courts' jurisdiction, the appointment of senior officials and the structure of the appeals process. The Office's war crimes bill and the Karnga-Lawrence-Jallah proposal would both use Liberian law to prosecute international crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity such as rape as a weapon of war, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, the murder of civilians and prisoners of war, and forced displacement. The Office's bill goes beyond the approach taken by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, whose prosecutor chose not to indict child soldiers, by allowing the prosecution of former child soldiers recruited between the ages of 15 and 18 for atrocities allegedly committed after they turned 18. It also includes genocide, terrorism and mercenarism within the court's jurisdiction, offenses that are not included in the bills drafted by the Liberian National Bar Association or the civil society coalition.
The bill also provides for the International Criminal Court to prosecute crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity if the proposed War and Economic Crimes Court is unable to prosecute them. Liberia ratified the Rome Statute in September 2004, after its civil wars had ended, and the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction only over crimes committed after that date.
Another issue discussed during the meeting was the appointment of the court's Registrar, one of its most senior administrative officials. The Bar Association's bill and the civil society coalition's proposal would have the United Nations secretary-general appoint the Registrar, following the model used by Sierra Leone's Special Court and other hybrid tribunals. The Karnga-Lawrence-Jallah bill does not specify how the Registrar would be appointed. The Office's proposal, by contrast, would have Liberia's president appoint the Registrar upon the recommendation of the President of the Court.
The senators also questioned the Office's provisions on the prosecutor during the consultations. While the bill describes the Prosecutor as independent, advocates noted that it does not clearly set out the qualifications, appointment process, removal procedures, or accountability mechanisms for the office. It also provides that the Prosecutor may not override decisions of the Independent Investigative Unit-Liberia.
Yango, also co-chair of the transitional justice stakeholders' body chaired by Barbu, confirmed that senators raised questions about the Prosecutor during the meeting. But she declined to comment on the substance of those concerns, referring questions to Barbu.
"I'm not a lawyer, and I will not respond to that," Yango said. Barbu did not respond to FrontPage Africa/New Narratives' requests for comment.
Another major point of difference concerns appeals. The Office's bill establishes an appeals chamber but also requires the court to apply Liberian law and follow interpretations of the Liberian Supreme Court. The Karnga-Lawrence-Jallah proposal would send appeals directly to the Supreme Court. By contrast, the Bar Association and civil society coalition bills would make the court's appeals chamber the final appellate authority, consistent with international hybrid tribunals.
Adama Dempster, a leading advocate for the courts, urged lawmakers to preserve international standards.
"We are drawing on experience from other jurisdictions," Dempster said, secretary general of the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia, a key member of the coalition. "If you go back to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Kosovo Tribunal, even the Lebanon Tribunal... all of the different hybrid courts have always set aside the issue of appeal chambers, where, when a trial takes place, and after the trial, individuals who are not satisfied, they can go to the appeals chamber. We think in that light, it comes with more independence, because the judges that will be sitting in the appeals chamber are judges that will be not just Liberians, but both international and Liberians."
He said maintaining that structure would strengthen confidence in the courts and improve Liberia's chances of attracting international support.
"We continue to push for the war crimes court because it should be the heavy lifting," Dempster said. "It was as a result of the civil war. So, coming to this stage, I think it is a positive sign, which we want to build and encourage the senators to proceed."
Yango echoed that view, saying Liberia should seize the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to international justice.
"Liberia has signed onto lots of international frameworks and treaties, and by the fact that we signed onto them, that means we are obligated to ensure that all of those commitments that we have fixed our signature to have been implemented to create an enabling environment for the citizens, most especially survivors and victims of the war," she said." And also looking at our current position on the [UN] Security Council, we think that it is the right time for Liberia to ensure that they set that picture that we are noticed for making history. This is time to make history."
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The consultations were attended by representatives of the Liberia Massacre Survivors Association, the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia, and the Women's NGOs Secretariat, among others.
Committee members closed the consultations to the media, saying they wanted first to understand the intent and legal framework of the competing proposals before opening the process to public hearings.
Michelle Reyes Milk, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the consultations and urged lawmakers to ensure that the next stage is transparent and inclusive.
"The committee should ensure that these hearings are public, and should take proactive steps to ensure the meaningful and inclusive participation of relevant stakeholders, such as victims and affected communities, civil society organizations, national and international experts, and potential international donors, among others," said Reyes Milk in a WhatsApp message to FrontPage Africa/New Narratives. "The process should advance in a timely and deliberate way, while still ensuring thorough review, paving the way for an effective court that can deliver fair, meaningful, and victim-centered justice."
Dempster said civil society groups would continue engaging lawmakers as consultations proceed.
The committee is expected to continue meeting with additional stakeholders, including members of the Liberian National Bar Association, before holding public hearings and preparing a harmonized draft for consideration by the full Senate.
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia project. Funding was provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. The funder had no say in the story's content.
