(LINA) – The Chairman for Law Reform Commission, Cllr. Boakai Kanneh, has blamed the Supreme Court of Liberia for the increase in pre-trial detainees at prison facilities across the country.
Cllr. Kanneh said in just this March Term of Court, the Supreme Court, with five associate justices, heard 34 cases on appeal for six months.
He said this action on the part of the Supreme Court amounts to human rights violation against those who are in prison awaiting conclusion of their cases.
Cllr. Kanneh spoke Wednesday during the Commemoration of the 3rd Africa Pre-Trial Detention Day held at the Temple of Justice Banquet Hall.
The program was convened under the theme: “Upholding, protecting, and promoting, the rights of suspects in the criminal justice system.”
In remarks, human rights lawyer Cllr. Dempster Brown said the Ministry of Justice is culpable for the violation of pre-trial detainees’ rights in most instances because it refuses applications to free them when filed by their lawyers.
He quoted the law as saying that after three terms of court without trying a case it should be dismissed.
Meanwhile, Cllr. Brown is calling on the Ministry of Justice to see how to minimize the overcrowding at the Monrovia Central Prison with illegal detainees.
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