IN RE: THE PETITIONS OF ATTORNEYS- AT-LAW FOR ADMISSION TO THE SUPREME COURT BAR AS COUNSELLORS-AT-LAW.

Heard: May 27, 2002. Decided: July 5, 2002.

MADAM CHIEF JUSTICE SCOTT delivered the opinion of the Court.

The statute authorizes the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court to qualify attorneys-at-law as members of the Supreme Court Bar thereby authorizing them, the said counsellors, to practice law in this Court of last resort. Pursuant to law, the successful petitioners herein petitioned this Court, and informed the Court that pursuant to the statutory requirements they had practiced law as attorneys-at-law in the subordinate courts for at least three years, that each of them is a citizen of this Republic, that they were of good moral and ethical behavior, and accordingly prayed that they be granted the right to practice law before the Honourable Supreme Court. (For reliance, see Judiciary Law, Rev. Code 17:17.6, published in 1972)
This Court, pursuant to the relevant statutory procedure, heard the petitions, and the Chief Justice proceeded to appoint a Board of Examiners, which included:
“ Counsellor David A. B. Jallah – Chairman
“ F. Musah Dean, Jr. – Member
“ Farmere G. Stubblefield – Member
“ Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh – Member
“ Ishmael P. Campbell – Member
The Court also appointed a committee to examine the moral and ethical behavior of the petitioners. The members of the Moral and Ethical Committee were:
“ Counsellor Lavela Koboi Johnson – Chairman
“ Marcus R. Jones – Member
“ Jeanette Ebba Davidson – Member
“ Molley M. Gray, Sr. – Member
The Clerk of Court was ordered to transmit to the said committees the names of the twenty petitioners whose peti-tions had been passed upon by this Court.
The Board of Examiners which administered written examinations to the petitioners on various areas of the law and trial procedures, informed this Court that out of a total of seventeen petitioners who had sat the examinations, twelve (12) petitioners had made a successful pass, and it therefore recommended that this Court qualifies the successful petitioners as counsellors-at-law. The successful petitioners named in the said report are:
1. Jerome J. Verdier
2. Scheaplor R. Dunbar
3. Josephus Boima Kontoe
4. Margaret C. Ansumana
5. Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay, Sr,
6. Othello S. Paymari
7. Mohammed Osman Kanneh
8. Patricia Mae-Clark
9. Wellington A. Debrick C. Trinity
10. James N. Gilayeneh, Sr.
11. Benedict Walter Holt, Sr.
12. Samuel W. Nyazeebuo
Similarly, the Committee on the Moral and Ethical Con-duct presented a report to this Court and therein included the names of the above listed petitioners as successful candidates who were found to be of good moral and ethical conduct, and who also presented evidence of citizenship and formal legal education.
This Court, after examining the two reports, referred to above, from the Board of Examiners and the Committee on Moral and Ethical Conduct, and the recommendations therein contained, hereby approves same and orders that the named petitioners be qualified as counsellors-at-law and thereby authorized to practice law before the Honourable Supreme Court of Liberia.
Before the Chief Justice proceeds with the qualification and admission of the petitioners as counsellors-at-law and members of the Supreme Court Bar, this Court thinks it appropriate to emphasize, reaffirm, and reconfirm the duties of a lawyer and the significance of compliance with the Revised Rules of Moral and Ethical Conduct, as approved by this Court in January 1999.
This Court notes that the petitioners herein are being admitted as counsellors-at-law at a very critical period in our national history. This Republic and its citizens continue to suffer and experience violence and hostilities. The members of this Court believe that in times or periods of external and internal threats to this Republic and its people, in the words of the late Chief Justice Pierre, “… the legal profession serves us as army, navy and air force.” The prevailing situation and conditions in our nation mandate that each lawyer who undertakes to protect and defend a client’s interests must do so with proficient legal expertise and diligence. Each lawyer, whether on the Bench or in the Bar, defends this Republic when they practice their trade with skill, expertise and diligence. Quality legal services will instill public faith and confidence in the legal profession and the courts. In rendering quality and diligent legal services, individually and collectively, the legal profession defends democratic values, principles and processes as enshrined in the Constitution, and by those services thereby defends this Republic and its people against violence and extra-constitutional processes and activities.
By these ceremonies, this Court will admit the petitioners herein named as members of the Supreme Court Bar, and thereby grant them the right to practice law in this Constitutional Court and the Court of last resort.
Each lawyer is under a duty to instill faith and confidence in the administration of justice, to uphold the Constitution and laws and the integrity and dignity of the legal profession and the judicial system. This duty is embodied in the Revised Rules for the Moral and Ethical Conduct of Lawyers, approved 1999. The rules provide:

Rule 1. It shall be unprofessional for any lawyer to advise, initiate or otherwise participate, directly or indi-rectly, in any act that tends to undermine or impugn the authority, dignity, and integrity of the courts or judges, thereby hindering the effective administration of justice.

Rule 39. It is expected of every member of the legal profession, whether a judge or a practicing lawyer, under the professional oath he/she has taken, to support the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, and uphold the laws of this country and the rules of all courts, to stand firm and committed to the enforcement of these rules through courts and the Grievance and Ethics Committee of the National Bar Association set by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia.

OATH OF ADMISSION AS AN ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
The … oath enumerates most, if not all, of the general and universal principles which should control a lawyer in the practice of his profession, and set forth in the said oath which conforms to the general duties of his admission, if strictly performed, entitles the said lawyer to perpetual membership of the profession in Liberia; a violation of any of the duties herein enumerated and sworn to will subject the violator to answer in disbarment proceedings, as are provided for in the rules of moral and ethical conduct. …“
Finally, this Court congratulates the members of the Board of Examiners and the Committee of Moral and Ethical Conduct for the splendid performance and achievement of the tasks assigned them. The Supreme Court expresses its thanks and appreciation to the said members individually for their contribution to an improved judicial system.
Wherefore, and in view of the foregoing, the petitions of the petitioners are hereby granted and they are ordered admitted to the Supreme Court Bar as counsellors-at-law. As such, we shall now administer the oath of admission and thereafter declare the petitioners admitted as members of the Supreme Court Bar and qualified to practice law before the Honourable Supreme Court of Liberia. The Clerk of this Court is hereby ordered to inform all subordinate courts that the petitioners herein have been qualified by this Court as counsellors-at-law and are thereby granted all the rights and privileges due and befitting members of the Bar of the Honourable Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia. And it is hereby so ordered.
Petitions granted.