Running Africa

Liberia's new Chief Justice designate - Johnny N. Lewis

Between 1993 and 2003, Cllr. Lewis provided legal expertise overseas to a number of international organizations including the United Nations. He served as Legal officer at the United Nations Operation in Somalia and Senior Legal Officer of the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, advising the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, the International Police Task Force and the UN mission in Bosnia & Herzegovina administration on all legal matters arising in the mission.

Johnny N. Lewis was born in 1946 to the late Roderick N. Lewis, a lawyer by profession and Mary Houston-Lewis, a retired school teacher, who presently resides in Liberia.

The soft-spoken, but no non-sense law professor credits his late father as the driving force behind his career, adding, "he inspired and moved me as he, firstly, practiced as a lawyer and subsequently as a judge."

The one-time proprietor & Managing Partner of the Lewis & Lewis Law Offices in Monrovia, Liberia is the second of four brothers, and two sisters.

Another former student, the once famous Liberian TV news anchor, Kwame Clement, describes Cllr. Lewis' nomination as Chief Justice as "a very good pick; he has the academic, and professional experience and among the best qualified lawyers Liberia has produced." Cllr. Clement who is now a corporate Lawyer at the Washington, DC-based Arnold & Porter Law Firm, is nevertheless cautious in his prediction of what to expect

of the new Supreme Court bench and its New Chief Justice designate, given the many challenges ahead, especially the independence of the judiciary.

Not surprisingly, the Yale Trained scholar is undoubtedly aware of those challenges facing the Liberian judiciary and believes his vast knowledge of the law and experience over the years have better prepared him to confront the challenges. In his words, "respect for the rule of law has always been my guiding principle as a lawyer and judge." Without going into specifics, Cll. Lewis agrees, "the major challenge facing the Liberian judiciary is its independence."

That challenge, will continue to remain circumspect until the newly constituted Supreme court bench can exert itself as a truly independent body void of undue influences

of other branches of government, a tendency that has affected the independence of the

Liberian judiciary over the years and has brought it into disrepute.

The recommendation of Cll. Lewis by the Bar Association and his subsequent nomination by the President as Chief Justice, another former student, Cllr. Jamesetta Howard-Wolokollie, now Youth and Sports Minister, hopes is the beginning of that process toward the independence of the judiciary, cause in him, she believes, "Liberia will have a Chief Justice who will be guided strictly by the true interpretation of the laws of the land and will not allow himself to be pulled by the nose."

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Posted February 19, 2006

By Our Staff Writer

Johnny N. Lewis, 60, is undoubtedly one of Liberia's best legal practitioners set to become the next Chief Justice of Liberia after confirmation by the Liberian senate.

With a legal career spanning well over 30-years, the name Johnny N. Lewis first came to prominence when at age 29, he made history, becoming the youngest judge to preside over the Third Judicial Circuit Court in Sinoe County. Based on his father's tutorships, The late President Tolbert saw the need to appoint Young Lewis to succeed his late father who had served honorably as judge of the court for nineteen years. Young Lewis ably presided over the court for five years until the coup de tat which overthrew the government of the late President, William R. Tolbert, Jr. in 1980.

The journey to the Highest Court of the Land for Lewis, began over five decades ago in the Eastern region of Liberia. Johnny N. Lewis was born in Greenville, Sinoe County, where he attended the St. Joseph's Catholic Elementary School, and then the Sinoe High School.

Upon graduation from high school, he enrolled at the University of Liberia where he received his Bachelors Arts and law degree, cum laude, from the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law in 1969, and was admitted to the National Bar Association the following year. In 1971,

he was awarded the LL. M degree from the prestigious Yale Law School, and admitted as a Counselor-at-Law before the Court he is poised to head 33-years later.

With his solid academic background and legal expertise, Cllr.. Lewis returned to his alma mata to pass on to a younger generation of law students the knowledge he had acquired. Among this new generation of law students, was Mr. Boakai Dukuly, who is now a practicing Attorney in the Virginia and Washington, DC areas in the United States of America. According to Dukuly, "Johnny makes a very fine Chief Justice. He has the requisite qualification and experience not only as a lawyer but a scholar." Attorney Dukuly is of the hope that the "scholarship which Cllr. Lewis brings to the Supreme Court Bench will trickle down to the magisterial level, to bring back the integrity of the court system.'

Between 1984 and 1991, he served as Dean and Professor of Law at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia. "My appointment as Dean and Professor of Law was the culmination of my service as a

member of the faculty of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, which commenced in July 1971 with my appointment as Assistant Professor of Law," Cllr. Lewis recalls. As Dean, he was the Law School's administrative and academic head.. Among his

responsibilities, he served as Legal Advisor to the University of Liberia, assisting with academic advisory programs in conjunction with the Director of Guidance and Counseling the Office of the Dean of Students. He is the author of several legal publications including two law school textbooks, Cases & Materials on Liberia's Intestate Succession & Wills and Cases and Materials on the Criminal Law of Liberia.

A former student, Cllr. F. Musah Dean, proprietor and founder of the Dean & Associates law offices in Monrovia, welcomes the appointment of his former professor whom he describes as an inspiration. "Cllr. Lewis is a legal erudite," Dean acknowledges, and

recounts his former professor's invaluable services to the legal profession, "Once Liberia's youngest judge, he served with great distinction." The then, young Musah Dean who once admitted fearing the very presence of a man who would later become his inspiration, recalls

first encountering Cllr. Lewis when he served as Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law while he was a student, "his sense of professionalism and profound knowledge inspired his students to strive for excellence, ' adding, 'we congratulate and thank him for accepting

the offer to steer the judiciary".

Like many professional and ordinary Liberians, the New Chief Justice designate has experienced his share of the bitter civil conflict which engulfed Liberia for nearly fourteen years. He narrowly escaped death when armed men stormed his residence in Monrovia in search of him. Lewis' nephew and confidante, the late Frederick Montgomery, was not that fortunate. It is believed he was murdered for failing to disclose the whereabouts of his uncle.

Despite the insecurity, Cllr Lewis returned to his homeland in 1991 to render his services as Legal Advisor to the President in the Interim Government of National Unity of Liberia. He prepared legal opinions on all legal matters upon which the President had to act, including providing legal opinions on opinions of the Minister of Justice and decisions of the court, which had to, by law, be enforced by the Executive Branch of the Government.