Justice Hassan Jallow Fired Action Bewilders Lawyers, Judges The Independent (Banjul) NEWS July 26, 2002 Posted to the web July 26, 2002 By Omar Bah Banjul Justice Hassan Bubacarr Jallow of the Supreme Court has had his services terminated reports reaching The Independent suggest. According to sources a letter of July 23 to that effect signed by the Solicitor General Raymond Sock from the Attorney General's Chambers was forwarded to Justice Jallow the very day it was signed. According to reports although the did not indicate where the directive emanated from, it categorically pointed out that Justice Jallow's services with the Supreme Court were no longer required. According to reports immediately after receiving the letter, Justice Jallow tendered his resignation and packed out of the office. According to subsection 4 of the Gambian constitution 'a judge of a superior court may only be removed from office for inability to perform the functions of his or her office, whether arising from infirmity of body or mind, or from misconduct.' It is far from certain whether such factors were applicable in his removal. Although plausible reasons for his termination are hard to come by Justice Jallow's removal may have something to do with his recent ruling in a case between Ousman Sabally and the state that went against the latter. Another less plausible reason is being linked with his reported absence at the July 22nd celebrations on Monday. Justice Hassan Jallow, who is also a sitting judge in The Hague, was the Attorney General and Minister of Justice in the first republic for about ten years. He later got his appointment as the only Gambian Supreme Court judge following the advent of the Supreme Court as the highest court of law on the land during the second republic. Lawyers at the High Court are jittery over Justice Jallow's removal. As the news descended on the court precinct Wednesday the atmosphere was one of bewilderment, sorrow and anxiety. One female lawyer commenting on the situation said, it was interesting that Justice Jallow's termination letter did not indicate the source of the directive. 'Everybody knows that a judge cannot be terminated in that manner' she argued. She said the national constitution has made provisions for the termination of judges, which are to follow stipulated procedures. 'The state cannot dismiss a judge at pleasure nor can civil servants be dismissed at pleasure' she indicated. She observed that a situation was arising where everything was being taken for granted because people have not bothered to challenge unconstitutional actions, leaving their perpetrators to enjoy impunity for too long. The lawyer called on the entire Bar and Bench to boycott the courts and demand explanation from the government for what they described as its high- handedness. The Gambia Judiciary is no stranger to such shake-ups in the second republic. Justice Robin Coker of the High Court, Ousman Jammeh formerly High court Master, Magistrate Borry Touray, L.K Mboge and Magistrate Darboe all suffered the same fate. Meanwhile section 141 subsection 2 © of the 1997 constitution states that, 'subject to the provisions of this section, a judge of the superior court © may have his/her appointment terminated by the president in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.' Subsection 5 reads, 'a judge may be removed from his/her office if notice in writing is given to the Speaker, signed by not less than half of all the voting members of the National Assembly, of a motion that a judge is unable to exercise the function of his or her office or any of the grounds stated in subsection 4 proposing that the matter should be investigated under this section.' Subsection 6 reads, that 'when a motion of notice is received by the Speaker under subsection 5, the Speaker shall forthwith cause a vote to be taken on the motion without debate.' Subsection 7 reads, 'if such motion is adopted by the votes of not less than two third of the National Assembly shall, by resolution appoint a tribunal consisting of three persons, at least one of whom shall hold or shall have held high judicial office, he shall be the chairman of the tribunal'. Subsection (b) reads 'the tribunal shall investigate the matter and shall report to the National Assembly through the Speaker whether or not it finds the allegations specified in the motion have been substantiated. '(C) If the tribunal reports to the National Assembly that it finds the particulars of any such allegations have not been substantiated no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of that allegation. '(D) If the tribunal reports to the National Assembly that it finds that the particulars of any such allegations have been substantiated, National Assembly members shall consider the report at the first convenient meeting, and if, or a motion supported by the votes of not less than two third of all the members, the National Assembly resolves that the judge be removed from office, the judge shall immediately cease to hold office'. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~