Justice Essential to Poverty Reduction

from All Africa

The Inquirer (Monrovia)
NEWS

By Webster Cassell

UNMIL boss, Allan Doss, says the Justice system in Liberia is a major arm in terms of delivering massive interim poverty reduction strategy to the people of the country.

Speaking yesterday at the opening of a two-day round table conference for senior and junior level employees of the Ministry of Justice on the objectives of the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), Ambassador Doss noted that if people do not feel safe and secured, they will not invest and without investment and saving, there will be no end to poverty.

The UNMIL Boss noted that poverty will not be reduced in the country if the country does not seek the way to put an end to the violence, conflicts and struggles that en
gulfed the country in recent years.

He asserted that there is an urgent need to modernize the civil and criminal laws of Liberia and make them more applicable in the context of the country.

He mentioned that there is a strong relation between poverty and conflict and added that conflict countries are always poor, thereby stressing the need to have a conflict-free society to alleviate poverty.

Mr. Doss further noted that the absence of justice and fair dispensation of justice has always been one of the contributing factors to conflicts in the society which according to him leads to poverty and therefore stressed the need for a vibrant justice system.

According to Mr. Doss, the administration of justice is to make sure that 'justice delayed doesn't become justice denied' and that the enforcing of the law is critical to the poverty reduction strategy in Liberia.

"Certainly, we want to see the independence of the judiciary strengthened and reinforced because there is rampart corruption within the system," the UNMIL Boss noted.

For her part, Justice Minister Frances Johnson-Morris said in order to achieve success in the poverty reduction under the rule of law and all the components of the justice system including the police and the court must work to attain the goal. She further noted that the two-day round table of government interim poverty reduction policy program was initiated by the Ministry of Justice out of the realization that without the participation of those responsible for implementing the strategy the goal of poverty reduction would not be achieved.

The program, which was attended by almost sixty-five persons at the auditorium of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center of the St. Teresa Convent on Randall Street will end today.