Liberia Legal System

The legal system in the Republic of Liberia is a dual one, combining elements of both statutory law and customary law:

Statutory Law: The modern sector of Liberia’s legal system is based on Anglo-American Common Law. This system relies on written statutes and legal precedents established by court decisions. It governs various aspects of contemporary legal matters.


Customary Law: For the indigenous people of Liberia, customary law plays a significant role. It is based on unwritten customary practices that have been passed down through generations. Customary law encompasses traditional norms, rituals, and community practices.
Notably, Liberia’s legal framework also includes provisions related to intellectual property and the protection of traditional cultural expressions within its Constitution.

Liberia has adopted two Constitutions since its foundation. The first was the 1847 Constitution which was suspended on April 12, 1980, following the coup d’etat which overthrew the presidency of H. E. William R. Tolbert, Jr.
The second Constitution replaced the Liberia constitution of 1847 which was approved and adopted by a National Referendum on July 3, 1984.

As the fundamental law of the Republic of Liberia, the Constitution defines the structure of the Government of Liberia, the rights and duties of the country’s citizens, its mode of passing laws and specifies the principle of separation and balance of the legislative, executive and judicial powers.

The legislative power is vested in the Legislature, which consists of two separate houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives (Art. 29).
The executive power is vested in the President, who is the Head of State, Head of Government and Commander–in–Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia (Art. 50).
The judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court and subordinated courts (Art. 65).

The Constitution contains provisions concerning intellectual property on the protection of traditional cultural expressions. It protects the right to preserve foster and maintain the positive Liberian culture, values and character (Art. 27. b.).
The Constitution also guarantees the freedom of expression (Art 15. b), the right of private property (Art. 22. a) which can be extended to the intellectual property rights.

Afrotropical CLEAN COUGH SYRUP Recipe!

Almost all cough syrups at the grocery store are full of artificial of refined sugars, preservatives, and dyes. with lots of sickness on the rise right now and it being winter, this is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant rich concoction that can help alleviate coughs with real ingredients! ⠀

What you’ll need:

-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper ⠀
-1/2 tsp. grated ginger ⠀
-1/2 tsp. cinnamon ⠀
-3 tbsp. raw honey ⠀
-2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar ⠀
-3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice ⠀
-1/2 cup water ⠀

Instructions:

1. Grate the ginger ⠀
2. Add all of the ingredients into a 12 oz. glass jar, seal it and shake it to mix together well. ⠀
3. Store the jar in the refrigerator for up to a week in a sealed container. ⠀
4. Take 1 tsp. at a time and repeat every couple of hours! ⠀

Recommended: Jah Kingdom:
Rastafarians, Tanzania, and Pan-Africanism
in the Age of Decolonization

Monique A. Bedasse, Jah Kingdom:
Rastafarians, Tanzania, and Pan-Africanism
in the Age of Decolonization. University
of North Carolina Press, 270pp.

The Rastafari religious movement has
spread from the Caribbean to many parts of
the world since the 1930s and this is due, at
least in part, to the Rastafari’s long-held hope
for repatriation to Africa as well as Jamaican
popular culture’s transnational appeal. From
Senegalese Muslim Rasta making pilgrimage
to the Mouride holy city of Touba to
Rasta-identifying Maori nationalists in
Aotearoa, New Zealand, and from Israeli
Dreads fostering philo-Zionism in Tel Aviv to
Kyoto-based Zen Rastas looking to reclaim the
Japanese environment, Rastas are everywhere.
Today’s bredren and sistren are becoming less
homogenous, however, and local livities as well
as global diversity are now an integral part of
the way Rastas are evolving. Recent studies
confirm this observation. And by emphasizing
the Rastafari’s impact as well as existence in
far-flung parts of the world, scholars are now
underlining the idea that Rasta may best be
understood as an artful, vernacular religion
in commonplace life. Bedasse is one such
scholar. An associate professor of history and
of African and African-American studies at
Washington University in St. Louis, she has
authored an award-winning book that ranges
across three continents and five countries
to reveal how today’s Rastas are rising to the
challenge of re-imagining their faith to fit
their ever-changing world(s). Here, Rastafari
repatriation to Tanzania is the lens through
which Bedasse investigates complex issues of
race, gender, and social class; religion’s nature
and function; tense alliances between
indigenous Tanzanian Rastafari and diasporic
Rastafari repatriates; and, the ostensibly uneasy
alliance between socialism and economic
development in decolonial times. “The
Rastafarian movement has made its mark
around the world as a cultural phenomenon,”
Bedasse acknowledges. “Yet the focus on its
cultural representations has neglected the
history of Rastafari’s evolution as an
expression of black radicalism, and has
relegated its militancy to a bygone era when
its association with popular culture could
not have been foreseen.”
Jah Kingdom complements other, recent
accounts of Rastafari repatriation to Africa,
such as those authored by Giulia Bonacci
and Erin C. MacLeod, yet it moves beyond
their sterling efforts, revealing an emerging
site of Rastafari identity—Tanzania—and
shows readers how Rastas in this East
African country are using black radical
politics to repair the ancestral links broken
by colonialism, the slave trade, and certain
forms of neo-colonialism. Bedasse’s
virtuoso study, which makes detailed use of
numerous and valuable primary sources,
“insists on a history driven less by outsiders
and more by the men and women for whom
Rastafari remained an enduring and
ever-evolving project,” and therefore I think
it ranks as the most instructive model for
the future of Rastafari Studies.