Chief Justice of Liberia

Jesus Christ of Liberia
Incumbent Francis Korkpor, Sr. since 2013
Appointer	Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation
Term length	70 years of age
Inaugural holder	Samuel Benedict
Formation	Constitution of Liberia 26 July 1847

The Chief Justice of Liberia is the head of the judicial branch of the Government of the Republic of Liberia and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Liberia.

Appointment and term

Article 54(c) of the Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice is appointed by the President of Liberia and confirmed by the Senate. Per Article 68, eligibility for the position of Chief Justice requires that the candidate:

• be a citizen of Liberia;
• be of good moral character;
• have been a counselor of the Supreme Court Bar for at least five years.

Article 71 states that the Chief Justice "shall hold their offices during good behavior." According to Article 72(b), the Chief Justice must retire from office upon reaching the age of 70, though he may remain on the Court long enough to render judgment or perform any judicial duties regarding matters he began addressing before reaching that age.

Duties

In addition to acting as head judge on the Supreme Court and managing all subordinate courts, the Constitution provides several duties to the Chief Justice. In the case of impeachment of the President or Vice President, Article 43 mandates that the Chief Justice preside over the trial in the Senate. Additionally, Article 53(a) requires the Chief Justice to swear in the President in front of a joint session of the Legislature.

Removal from office

The Chief Justice may be removed from office upon impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate. Article 71 of the Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice may only be removed in the event of "misconduct, gross breach of duty, inability to perform the functions of their office, or conviction in a court of law for treason, bribery or other infamous crimes." In the event of an impeachment trial of the Chief Justice in the Senate, the President of the Senate presides over the proceedings.

Only one Chief Justice, Chea Cheapoo, has been removed in this manner.

List of Chief Justices

♦ Served as Chief Justice in extra-constitutional transitional government
§ Impeached and removed from office

No.	Chief Justice	Term of Office	Nominated by President
1	Samuel Benedict	1847–1854	Joseph Jenkins Roberts
2	John Day	1854–1859
3	Boston Jenkins Drayton	1861–1864	Stephen Allen Benson
4	Edward James Roye	1865–1868	Daniel Bashiel Warner
5	C. L. Parsons	1869–1894	James Spriggs Payne
6	Zacharia B. Roberts	1895–1910	Joseph James Cheeseman
7	James A. Toliver	1911–1913	Arthur Barclay
8	J. J. Dossen	1913–1924	Daniel Edward Howard
9	F. E. R. Johnson	1924–1929	Charles D. B. King
10	Louis Arthur Grimes	1929–1949	Edwin Barclay
11	H. Nimine Russell	1949–1956	William Tubman
12	A. Dash Wilson	1958–1970
13	James A. A. Pierre	1971–1980
	Emmanuel Gbalazeh♦	1980–1986	Samuel Doe
14	James N. Nagbe	1986–1987
15	Chea Cheapoo§	1987
16	Emmanuel Gbalazeh	1988–1990
	James G. Bull♦	1992–1996	Amos Sawyer
	Frances Johnson-Morris♦	1996–1997	Ruth Perry
17	Gloria Musu-Scott	1997–2003	Charles Taylor
	Henry Reed Cooper♦	2003–2006	Transitional Government of Liberia
18	Johnnie N. Lewis	2006–2012	Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
19	Francis S. Korkpor, Sr.	2013–present

References

• Dossen, J. J., Supreme Court reports: Cases argued and determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of the Republic of Liberia, January, 1861-January, 1907, Volume 1.

External links

• Text of the 1986 Constitution