A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

• The Government of Liberia should provide the newly established Anti-Corruption
Commission with the necessary resources and enforcement powers to effectively carry out
its mandate.
• The Government of Liberia should pass legislation that establishes and provides penalties
for criminal acts constituting corruption including bribery of national public officials,
embezzlement or misappropriation of public property by a public official, abuse of functions,
bribery in the private sector, illicit enrichment, embezzlement in the private sector, laundering
of proceeds of crime, and obstruction of justice. 298
Potential Implementation Strategy: 2007 Global Corruption Report
In seeking to reduce corruption in the judicial sphere, the Government of Liberia may wish to consider
the following strategies put forth in Transparency International’s 2007 Global Corruption Report:
1. Development of an objective and transparent appointment process that will ensure that high quality
candidates are selected without being indebted to an influential politician or senior judge.
2. Introduction of laws to protect judicial salaries and working conditions in order to ensure that judicial
rulings are free from manipulation and intimidation.
3. Limits on judicial terms of ten years, not subject to renewal, so that judges do not allow anticipation
of term renewal to affect their rulings.
4. Adoption of a confidential complaint procedure to trigger an investigation by an independent body
to address claims of judicial corruption. 299
• The Government of Liberia should actively prosecute individuals who commit crimes of
corruption.
• The Government of Liberia should update criminal procedure laws to ensure that a longer
statute of limitations is linked to discovery of acts of corruption and that whistleblower
witnesses can be protected as they give evidence in court through the use of technology to
shield their identity.
• The Government of Liberia should ensure that public officials declare assets prior to taking
office and continue to do so regularly during the course of their tenures so as to better
monitor illicit enrichment.
• The Government of Liberia should ensure the dissemination of and adherence to its public
officials’ code of conduct and rules and procedures for civil servants.
• The Government of Liberia should establish a Civil Service Commission and ensure timely,
adequate remuneration of civil servants.
• The Government of Liberia should focus on strengthening and auditing both the internal
control and the compliance culture in the entire system of public procurement and
management of public finance.
454