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Looking for Justice: Liberian Experiences with and Perceptions of Local Justice Options

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Looking for Justice: Liberian Experiences with and Perceptions of Local Justice Options [PEACEW RKS [ LOOKING FOR JUSTICE LIBERIAN EXPERIENCES WITH AND PERCEPTIONS OF LOCAL JUSTICE OPTIONS Deborah H. Isser United States Institute of Peace Stephen C. Lubkemann George Washington University Saah N’Tow United States Institute of Peace Research Team Leader With Adeo Addison, Johnny Ndebe, George Saye, Tim Luccaro Including contributions and quantitative analysis from Bilal Siddiqi and Justin Sandefur of the Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford University United States Institute of Peace [PEACEW RKS [ The views expressed in this report are those of the authors alone. They do not necessarily reflect views of the United States Institute of Peace. United States Institute of Peace 1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036-3011 Phone: 202.457.1700 Fax: 202.429.6063 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.usip.org Peaceworks No. 63. First published 2009. [ Most Liberians would still be unsatisfied with the justice meted out by the formal system, even if it were able to deliver on the basics. ] PEACEWORKS Summary ... 3 Acknowledgments ... 9 Part I: Introduction Overview and Objectives ... 13 Part II: Research Findings 1. Core Questions ... 21 2. The Topography of Justice ... 23 3. The Customary Justice System ... 25 4. Liberian Perceptions of Justice ... 39 5. Views on Regulation of the Customary System ... 53 6. An Assessment of Liberians’ Quest for Justice ... 73 Part III: Conclusion Policy Implications ... 81 NTENTS Appendix: Community-Based Justice and the NO. 63 Rule of Law in Liberia ... 97 100 About the Authors ... O C SUMMARY This report presents the research findings and analysis of ten for transportation and time spent away from livelihoods. The months of field study as part of the United States Institute formal system is also faulted for its lack of transparency and of Peace and George Washington University project titled impartiality, and is widely believed to be a forum in which “From Current Practices of Justice to Rule of Law: Policy Op- wealthy, powerful, and socially connected people can assert tions for Liberia’s First Post-Conflict Decade.” The analysis their will. Finally, the formal system is widely seen as inef- we present, based on three types of research methods (focus fective and failing to enforce—or even get to the point of groups, individual interviews with parties to specific disputes, making—judgments against offenders. Victims of crime re- and interviews with chiefs, zoes [traditional leaders], and oth- port feeling further victimized by their experience with the er justice practitioners) employed primarily in three counties formal courts, expressing astonishment that they would have (Grand Gedeh, Lofa, Nimba, and less extensively in parts of to pay excessively while the perpetrators nearly always walked Monrovia), is intended to provide the Liberian government free. One woman put into words a constant theme: “There is and other stakeholders in the country with more robust evi- no justice for the poor.” dence than has hitherto been available on how both formal In fact, what emerges clearly from the research is that and customary justice systems are perceived and utilized by many Liberians not only view the formal system as failing Liberians. It also addresses what implications this evidence to deliver justice, but they regard the formal justice system as has for policy options regarding justice sector reform. Our one of the most effective mechanisms through which power- methodology was designed to trace actual practice of dispute ful and wealthy social actors are able to perpetrate injustice resolution, regardless of which institution—formal, custom- in service to their own interests. The cases we traced reveal a ary, or other—was involved. This allows us to understand the deliberate use of opportunistic forum shopping, in which liti- choices made by litigants and their levels of satisfaction in re- gants choose the formal system primarily if they believe it will lational value to the available alternatives. These realities fac- give them an unfair advantage over their opponent. Liberians ing Liberians in the pursuit of justice, as well as the social be- we interviewed reported using the formal system, or the threat liefs that inform Liberians’ conceptions of justice, are critical of the formal system, as a means of advancing a contentious to take into account in any effort to design a successful justice social agenda for retaliatory purposes, or for gaining leverage strategy for the immediate and medium terms. in other matters that have nothing to do with the actual case in question. KEY FINDINGS Liberians are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the Even if the formal justice system were able to deliver formal justice system, particularly at the local level. affordable, timely, and impartial results, it would still not Affordability, accessibility, and timeliness are three of the be the forum of choice for many rural Liberians. most consistent demands that Liberians have when it comes One of the most striking findings of our research is that most to the provision of justice. Our research reveals that the formal Liberians would still be unsatisfied with the justice meted out justice system is seen almost universally by Liberians as fall- by the formal system, even if it were able to deliver on the ing abysmally short of their expectations in all three of these basics discussed earlier. This is because the core principles of important service categories. Liberians report a bewildering justice that underlie Liberia’s formal system, which is based on array of fees associated with the formal system, including individual rights, adversarialism, and punitive sanctions, dif- registration fees, gas money for police investigators, require- fer considerably from those valued by most Liberians. One ments that victims pay the cost of food for the detained ac- of the consistent complaints levied by Liberians against the cused, lawyers’ fees, bribes, and indirect costs such as money formal court system is that it is overly narrow in how it defines 3 the problems it resolves and thus fails to get at the root issues that guide the exercise of customary justice have not been fun- that underlie the dispute. This concern rests on a culturally damentally altered by the Liberian conflict and are based on grounded and deeply held assumption that incorrect or injuri- the overall goals of restorative justice and social reconciliation ous behavior is usually rooted in damaged and acrimonious preferred by most Liberians. social relations. In order to be seen as adequate, justice must The process of customary dispute resolution resembles work to repair those relations, which are the ultimate and more nonbinding arbitration—in that a decision rendered is ap- fundamental causal determinant, rather than merely treat the pealable, with additional elements of mediation, and there is behavioral expressions that are viewed as its symptoms. Re- a strong effort to bring both parties to a consensus resolution. dressive action is thus considered deficient if it does not also There is an emphasis on revealing the truth of the matter in produce reconciliation among the parties. A Western-style an expansive way that includes the root causes and additional formal system, by con- social factors that inform the dispute. In adjudicating, chiefs “ Actually, the customary trast, is a zero-sum game rely on the counsel and participation of community elders and law is the one that in which one party is sometimes representatives of constituent groups such as youth I prefer. Our determined the winner leaders. A broad social consultation process is employed to traditional laws help us and the other the loser verify the truth and to increase the legitimacy—and there- to handle our dispute of a narrow issue through fore the acceptance—of the decision. Admission of guilt by very easily and after sterile application of law, the perpetrator is considered the best means of knowing the the settlement of blind of social context. truth. Trial by ordeal is sometimes employed as a means of these disputes, the Many Liberians noted ascertaining the truth as well. disputants go with that far from resolving Customary forms of redress are aimed at addressing the smiles in their faces. the underlying dispute, root causes of the dispute and not just the narrow matter at . [In] fact, the statutory formal adjudication serves hand. Compensation or repair of the harm to the victim is im- law brings separation to exacerbate adversarial portant but generally subordinate to social reconciliation. For among our people.” relations. certain offenses, a public fine may be levied, often in the form It is important to of cooking a meal for the community. Public apologies are note that the preference important and are often followed by a ritual such as sharing a for restorative justice and social reconciliation is not based on kola nut, knocking glasses together, or performing some other an abstract notion of tradition. Quite the contrary, it repre- gesture that signifies forgiveness and reconciliation. Egregious sents a very rational calculation based on the socioeconomic cases, considered beyond social repair, may involve a punitive and cultural context in which most Liberians live. Given the sanction. subsistence livelihoods and economic interdependence of ru- Many Liberians also express a preference for the custom- ral communities, adversarial relations between neighbors have ary system as it is able to address the full range of problems serious consequences. As one interviewee put it: “Actually, the they confront, including public insults and the very real belief customary law is the one that I prefer. Our traditional laws that some individuals use supernatural means (witchcraft) to help us to handle our dispute very easily and after the settle- harm others. In their view, the failure of the formal system to ment of these disputes, the disputants go with smiles in their recognize these as offenses leaves serious problems and inse- faces.
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