Koffa’s Lawyer Nullifies Justice Minister’s Opinion By: Yassah J Wright

In the case involving House Speaker and the Majority Bloc, one of the lawyers representing Speaker J. Fonati Koffa has filed a bill of information to the Supreme Court of Liberia, to publicly recall Justice Minister N. Oswald Tweh opinion for misinterpreting the high court ruling. Cllr. Arthur T. Johnson said in his bill of information that the Supreme Court should grant any further relief that it may deem proper to restore the constitution and uphold the rule of law in Liberia. The Koffa lawyer further said the Supreme Court should determine that actions of the purported Speaker Richard Koon and Deputy Speaker Thomas Fallah and other members of the Majority Bloc in defying the court ruling and final judgment are contemptuous. Cllr. Johnson stated that the high court of Liberia should declare the actions of Koon and members of the Majority Bloc null and void ab initio and session hearings or decisions are in violation of the court ruling and final judgment, ultra vires and unconstitutional. He indicated that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Liberia, Counselor N. Oswald Tweh, the Government’s Chief Legal Officer, has contributed to the Majority Bloc violation of the court’s ruling by publicly issuing a legal opinion on December 10, 2024 addressed to the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs in which the Minister of Justice falsely asserted that the Supreme Court ruling and final judgment concluded that the sittings, actions and decisions of the Majority Bloc were lawful. He said the action of the Minister of Justice has further exacerbated the situation. “A copy of the Minister of Justice & Attorney General’s opinion is hereto attached. 2.3. Informants submit that collectively the Majority Bloc’ action undermine the authority of the honorable Court, the framework of our constitutional system of government and the stability of the entire nation”. Cllr. Johnson stressed that by supporting the Majority Bloc’s actions, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General has emboldened unconstitutional behavior and deepened the legislative crisis. The Koffa lawyer noted that in deliberate and intentional violations and direct contraventions of the court’s ruling and final judgment, Representatives Koon and Fallah and other members of the self-styled Majority Bloc have continued to convene and hold unauthorized hearings, including budget hearings, all of which were declared ultra vires and invalided in ‘Your Honors’ ruling and final judgment.’ Cllr. Johnson indicated that the Attorney General must prepare opinions on all issues at the moment or that involve public interest.  However, Johnson noted that these opinions might not be weighted in judicial Decisions, they guide the government inappropriate and lawful administration. “Whenever the constitutionality of a statute is challenged, the Supreme Court must test the statute as applied to a given case by the Constitution, and the court’s decision on such an issue decides that issue for all time. If such a decision is against the statute, the law immediately loses its authority, usefulness, and validity and becomes a nullity. In such cases, there is no necessity for legislative repeal or removal from the statute books to affect the statute’s invalidity,” Koffa lawyer Johnson indicated. 

He also said this function also applies to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the actions of any of the two branches of the Government. Of the members of the President’s cabinet, the Attorney General is the only one who might professionally or technically disagree in opinion with the President on any issue and be within the proper, proprietary, and legal performance of his duty; every other cabinet member must agree with the policy of the administration or resign.  He further stated that any Attorney General who is either unable to or who fails to advise against any acts of government which, in his opinion, infringe the constitutional rights of the citizens is useless to the administration.