Checchi Helps Train Magistrates in Liberia
Chief Justice Francis S. Kapkor (right) presents a certificate to one of the graduates of the Professional Magistrate Training Program.
On May 10, 2019, the U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, Christine Elder, joined Supreme Court Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor in addressing 56 new magistrates at their graduation ceremony in Monrovia. The event celebrated their successful completion of the James A. Pierre Judicial Institute’s third Professional Magistrate Training Program. This is a one-year program to recruit, train and mentor new magistrates. The program was conducted in collaboration with the USAID-funded Legal Professional Development and Anti-Corruption Activity, implemented by Checchi and Company Consulting. In addition to receiving training in procedural and substantive law, legal research and writing, each student participated in a four-week mentoring program with a magisterial court in order to observe court proceedings. This program moves Liberia closer to its goal of having over 300 magistrates who possess both a university degree and formal Judicial Institute training.
