The Senator of Bong County Prince K. Moye has applauded the Nation Associates of Public Defenders of Liberia (NAPDOL) for clinching to liberty and justice despite the many challenges faced in defending their clients.
Speaking at the 7th Annual Convention of NAPDOL at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia, Senator Moye said the need to restore confidence in the Liberian justice system cannot be overemphasized.
He said public defenders are winning a lot of cases for citizens who cannot afford the cost of legal services, thus they are inching closer to attaining liberty and justice for all.
The Bong County Senator said the role of public defenders in the country is as important as it has ever been, as their work is to fight for justice for the economically underprivileged, ensuring there is liberty and justice for all.
Addressing the occasion as guest speaker on Thursday, January 9, 2025, Senator Moye said it is important to know that upholding the rule of law and ensuring justice for all is at the fulcrum of democracy.
Senator Moye said public defenders must invest as much time, and show as much passion in defending their clients who have nothing to offer in return for their legal services the same way they would defend clients who have everything to offer for the same quality of service.
The Senator spoke on the subject: “The Role of the Public Defender in Ensuring Liberty and Justice For all. He said the nation is premised on the values of freedom and justice for all Liberians regardless of their social statuses, economic standings, political preferences, cultural orientations, and religious affiliations.
Moye said adherence to the rule of law, and ensuring liberty and justice for all is very central to “our economic and democratic progress, and is pivotal to our survival and progress as a people and nation”
He said statistics continue to show that a high percentage of Liberians hardly trust customary justice actors to dispense justice. “Government can create the platform for leveraging the roles of such customary justice actors through the creation of more transparent and clear-cut rules of engagement between them and the formal justice system, while also strengthening and empowering the formal system to be a better alternative for people,” he said.
“We must galvanize our efforts and work to ensure that reforms are responsive to this reality. The time to ensure a reputable and credible justice system is now, and not later. This has to be a concerted effort,” he told the gathering.
The lawmaker said, “Professional legal organizations like NAPDOL have their roles to play; individual lawyers have to give their best for their clients; judges must do due diligence in the discharge of their duties, and for us in the legislature, coordination is key to the achievement of these objectives.”
He said judicial credibility is crucial, and most recently, there have been reports of instances of mob violence, where people take the law into their own hands, adding that there’s a needs for a paradigm shift. “We must reach a point where the people start to see the courts as the most preferred options for resolving issues,” the senator said.
