Reconstructing the Rule of Law: Post-conflict Liberia

Liberia today continues to face one of the greatest post-civil war peace-building challenges of this time. Liberians suffered unspeakably during the 14 years of internal fighting, which killed 250,000 and drove more than half of Liberia's 3.5 million people from their homes. Pres Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has rightly received praise for her efforts to build peace and fight poverty. She has encouraged all Liberians to make "a fundamental break with the past" and has assembled a high-quality cabinet to work on the twin challenges of delivering quick-impact assistance to the people and improving Liberia's economy. A central pillar of President Sirleaf's reform agenda is to improve governance and the rule of law, including decentralizing power from the historically powerful presidency. However, there currently exists a confusion of overlapping laws and regulations and unclear lines of authority. Reconstituting common rules of social order, therefore, is a critical element in ending violent conduct in society.