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

Chief judge

Chief Judge is a title that can refer to the highest-ranking judge of a court that has more than one judge. The meaning and usage of the term vary from one court system to another...

 of the Supreme Court of Liberia

Supreme Court of Liberia

The Supreme Court of Liberia is the highest judicial body in the West African nation of Liberia. The court consists of the Chief Justice of Liberia and four Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate...

.

Appointment and term

Article 54(c) of the Constitution

Constitution of Liberia

The Constitution of Liberia is the supreme law of the Republic of Liberia. The current constitution, which came into force on 6 January 1986, replaced the Liberian Constitution of 1847, which had been in force since the independence of Liberia...

 stipulates that the Chief Justice is appointed by the President of Liberia and confirmed by the Senate

Senate of Liberia

The Senate of Liberia is the upper house of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia, and together with the House of Representatives comprises the Legislature of Liberia...

. Per Article 68, eligibility for the position of Chief Justice requires that the candidate:

• be a citizen of Liberia;
• be of good moral character
  Moral character
  Moral character or character is an evaluation of a particular individual's durable moral qualities. The concept of character can imply a variety of attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits...
  
  ;
• 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 mananging all subordinate courts, the Constitution provides several duties to the Chief Justice. In thhe 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

Joint session

A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally-separate decision-making groups meet together, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose....

 of the Legislature

Legislature of Liberia

The Legislature of Liberia is bicameral, consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives , in the same manner as the Congress of the United States....

.

Removal from office

The Chief Justice may be removed by office upon impeachment

Impeachment

Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

 by the House of Representatives

House of Representatives of Liberia

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the bicameral Liberian Legislature. Legislative elections took place on 11 October 2005, and the elected members took office in January 2006.-Candidate eligibility:...

 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

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

, bribery

Bribery

Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...

 or other infamous crimes." In the event of an impreachment trial of the Chief Justice in the Senate, the President of the Senate

President of the Senate

The President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate, and is the speaker of other assemblies.The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for example, the President of the Senate of Nigeria is second in line...

 presides over the proceedings.

Only one Chief Justice, Chea Cheapoo

Chea Cheapoo

Chea Job Cheapoo, Sr. is a Liberian politician who served as the 15th Chief Justice of Liberia from July 1987 until his impeachment and removal from office on December 2 of that year....

, has been removed in this manner.

List of Chief Justices

align="bottom" style="text-align:left; padding-left:0.25in;"|♦ 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 Samuel Benedict Samuel Benedict was a Liberian politician and jurist who served as the 1st Chief Justice of Liberia. He was born a slave in the U.S. state of Georgia in 1792, and purchased his freedom and that of his family. He emigrated to Liberia in 1835, on the ship Indiana.Prior to Liberia’s independence,...	1847 - 1854	Joseph Jenkins Roberts Joseph Jenkins Roberts Joseph Jenkins Roberts was the first and seventh President of Liberia. Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, Roberts emigrated to Liberia in 1829 as a young man. He opened a trading store in Monrovia, and later engaged in politics...
2	John Day John Day (judge) John Day was a Liberian politician and jurist who served as the 2nd Chief Justice of Liberia from 1854 until his death in 1859....	1854 - 1859
3	Boston Jenkins Drayton Boston Jenkins Drayton Boston Jenkins Drayton was a Liberian politician and Lutheran minister who served as the 3rd Chief Justice of Liberia from 1861 until 1864. He had previously served as the final Governor of the Republic of Maryland from 1855 until its annexation by Liberia on 18 March 1857.Born in Charleston,...	1861 - 1864	Stephen Allen Benson Stephen Allen Benson Stephen Allen Benson served as the 2nd President of Liberia from 1856 to 1864. Prior to that, he served as the 3rd Vice President of Liberia from 1854 to 1856 under President Joseph Jenkins Roberts....
4	Edward James Roye Edward James Roye Edward James Roye served as the fifth President of Liberia from 1870 to his overthrow and subsequent violent death in 1871. He had previously served as the 4th Chief Justice of Liberia from 1865 until 1868...	1865 - 1868	Daniel Bashiel Warner Daniel Bashiel Warner Daniel Bashiel Warner served as the 3rd President of Liberia from 1864 to 1868. Prior to this, he served as the 5th Vice President of Liberia under President Stephen Allen Benson from 1860 to 1864, and as the 3rd Secretary of State in the cabinet of Joseph Jenkins Roberts from 1854 to...
5	C. L. Parsons	1869 - 1894	James Spriggs Payne James Spriggs Payne James Spriggs Payne served as the fourth and eighth President of Liberia from 1868 to 1870 and 1876 to 1878. He was the last President to belong to Liberia's Republican Party.-Early life:...
6	Zacharia B. Roberts	1895 - 1910	Joseph James Cheeseman Joseph James Cheeseman Joseph James Cheeseman was the 12th President of Liberia. He was born in Edina, Grand Bassa County, Liberia and was elected three times on the True Whig ticket...
7	James A. Toliver	1911 - 1913	Arthur Barclay Arthur Barclay Arthur Barclay was the 15th President of Liberia, serving from 1904 to 1912.-Early life and education:Barclay was born at Bridgetown, Barbados, on July 31, 1854, the tenth of twelve children of Anthony and Sarah Barclay...
8	J. J. Dossen J. J. Dossen James Jenkins Dossen ) was a Liberian politician and jurist, serving as the Vice President of Liberia from 1906 to 1912 under President Arthur Barclay. He was elected president of the Liberia College in 1913, and associate judge of the Supreme Court of Liberia for 10 years, before holding the...	1913 - 1924	Daniel Edward Howard Daniel Edward Howard Daniel Edward Howard was the 16th President of Liberia, serving from 1912 to 1920. Born in the town of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, he worked his way up through the civil service to become secretary of the True Whig Party, the country's only political party at the time.Howard was elected...
9	F. E. R. Johnson	1924 - 1929	Charles D. B. King Charles D. B. King Charles Dunbar Burgess King was a politician in Liberia of Freetown Creole descent . He was a member of the True Whig Party, which ruled the country from 1878 until 1980...
10	Louis Arthur Grimes Louis Arthur Grimes Louis Arthur Grimes served as the 10th Chief Justice of Liberia and is considered one of the most important jurists in the history of Liberia. He was appointed Attorney General by President Charles D. B. King and served in this position from 1922 to 1932 when he was appointed Secretary of State by...	1929 - 1949	Edwin Barclay Edwin Barclay Edwin James Barclay was a Liberian politician. A member of the True Whig political party, he served as the 18th President of the country from 1930 until 1944. Under his leadership, Liberia was an ally of the United States during World War II....
11	H. Nimine Russell	1949 - 1956	William Tubman William Tubman William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th President of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971....
12	A. Dash Wilson A. Dash Wilson A. Dash Wilson was a Liberian politician who served as the 12th Chief Justice of Liberia from 1958 to 1970.-References:...	1958 - 1970
13	James A.A. Pierre	1971 - 1980
	Emmanuel Gbalazeh Emmanuel Gbalazeh Emmanuel N. Gbalazeh served as the 16th Chief Justice of Liberia from 1988 until the collapse of the Liberian government in September 1990... ♦	1980 - 1986	Samuel Doe Samuel Doe Samuel Kanyon Doe was the 21st President of Liberia, serving from 1986 until his assassination in 1990. He had previously served as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council from 1980 to 1986. He was the first indigenous head of state in Liberian history.Doe was a part of a rural tribe in inland...
14	James N. Nagbe James N. Nagbe James Nagbe Nagbe served as the 14th Chief Justice of Liberia from 1986 until his resignation in 1987.Nagbe represented Montserrado County during the 1983 Constitutional Convention to draft a new constitution for the country due to the previous constitution's suspension after the 1980 coup...	1986 - 1987
15	Chea Cheapoo Chea Cheapoo Chea Job Cheapoo, Sr. is a Liberian politician who served as the 15th Chief Justice of Liberia from July 1987 until his impeachment and removal from office on December 2 of that year.... §	1987
16	Emmanuel Gbalazeh Emmanuel Gbalazeh Emmanuel N. Gbalazeh served as the 16th Chief Justice of Liberia from 1988 until the collapse of the Liberian government in September 1990...	1988 - 1990
	James G. Bull♦	1992 - 1996	Amos Sawyer Amos Sawyer Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer was the President of the Interim Government of National Unity in Liberia . Sawyer was born to Abel Sawyer and Sarah Sawyer in 1945, of Sarpo ethnicity; his siblings include Joe Sawyer; the Sawyers were a prominent family in Sinoe County...
	Frances Johnson-Morris♦	1996 - 1997	Ruth Perry Ruth Perry Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry was Chairwoman of the Council of State of Liberia from 3 September 1996 until 2 August 1997, following the First Liberian Civil War...
17	Gloria Musu-Scott	1997 - 2003	Charles Taylor
	Henry Reed Cooper♦	2003 - 2006	Transitional Government of Liberia
18	Johnnie N. Lewis Johnnie Lewis Johnnie N. Lewis is the 18th and current Chief Justice of Liberia. A native of Sinoe County, Lewis was educated at the University of Liberia in Monrovia and at Yale Law School in the United States. Before his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a judge in Liberia’s circuit court...	2006–present	Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

External links

• Text of the 1986 Constitution