By Ramsey N. Singbeh, Jr
+231772641146 / 880147358
director@news.throngtalk.com
Margibi, Liberia, October 23, 2025: The Stipendiary Magistrate of the Salala Magisterial Court, Honorable Maxwell G. Karsor says one of the reasons responsible for overcrowding of prison facilities across Liberia is the abandonment of cases at the court by many of the party litigants.
He indicated that some of the people who go to court are just interested in sending people to prision as a way of punishing them but they do not make efforts in pursuing the matter in court.
He also said, “There are some people who are only interested in saying, I’m going to punish this man. As a result of this, they come to the court because the man does not have somebody to file in a temporary bond on his behalf. Sometimes, he’s reminded at the police station or maybe at the central prison in Gbarnga and the complainants don’t come back to follow up the case and so you as a judge, if you’re not mindful, you might just forget about that person.”
Magistrate Karsor said in the instance where no one makes efforts to go at the court to make a follow up on the matter, the person spends time behind bars because the judge can not easily retain information about every single person going before the court.
“Definitely, the judge will not be able to retain information about all the people that go that go to jail within the week, within the month and so on.These are some of the contributing factors that lead to the prison facilities being overly packed,” the magistrate added.
He described the magisterial court as a court of first instance that handles criminal and civil cases that fall under its jurisdiction.
According to him, the most common cases that are most often brought to court include but not limited to action of debt, misapplication of entrusted property, disorderly conduct and theft of property.
The Salala Magisterial Court Judge says a lot of people from his observation are beginning to realize that the court is the best place to settle issues instead of taking the law into their hands.
He how urged upcoming magistrates to make use of the law as their daily working tool at the court.
In addition, he cautioned those dispensing justice to be able to state the law to people who are being punished by the law.
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