Peace Prize Goes to President of Liberia

The presentation on Saturday of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a symbol of the overall optimism about the country’s recovery efforts, implemented since she first took office in 2005.

A period of prolonged conflict that includes civil war, instability and violence that swept the country between 1989 and 2003 destroyed much of Liberia’s infrastructure and institutions, including the country’s justice system.

As president, Johnson Sirleaf initiated an ambitious plan to rebuild Liberia through a four-year plan to reduce poverty. One of four pillars for this strategy was the re-establishment of the rule of law in Liberia.

During Johnson Sirleaf’s presidency, the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative has provided financial support and technical expertise to Liberians engaged in reforms that will strengthen justice throughout the country.

ABA ROLI helped establish Liberia’s first Judicial Training Institute and supported an effort to combat excessive pretrial detention in Liberia’s prisons.

Most recently, ABA ROLI support helped create an online law library, called the Liberian Legal Information Institute, where Liberians can access their nation’s legal information.  Through its online portal at http://www.liberlii.org/, users are able to access opinions of Liberia’s Supreme Court, codified and uncodified legislation, agency regulations, concession agreements, court rules, treaties and an array of Liberian legal resources.

This database has been adopted by senior Liberian officials, Liberia’s Law Reform Commission, the Judicial Training Institute, the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law and the Liberia National Bar Association.

Watch a video about LiberLII at: http://www.vimeo.com/28480328.

Media Contact: Rabiah Burks (202-662-1002 or rabiah.burks@americanbar.org)

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