Emma Shannon Walser

Emma Shannon Walser (born 24 July 1929) is a Liberian lawyer and jurist who became the country's first female judge in 1971.

Emma Shannon Walser
Judge
In office
1971–1979

Early life and education

Walser was born in Maryland County on 24 July 1929 to Eugene Himie Shannon and Edith E. Harris. Her father was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.[1][2] She went to school at St Theresa's convent in Monrovia and then to Secretarial College. She worked as private secretary to the Manager of the Bank of Monrovia for a number of years. She later returned to study at the University of Liberia, graduating with an LLB in 1969.[1]

Career

Walser was appointed as a judge to the Montserrado County judicial circuit in 1971 by President William R. Tolbert Jr., making her the country's first female judge.[1][3] She was seen as a progressive and liberal judge.[1] "While it was customary for judges to decide cases based on instructions from the president, Walser gained a reputation for deciding cases strictly on merit and the law."[4]

Walser publicly refused to sentence an indigenous man to a death sentence because she argued he had been poorly represented by a state lawyer,[5] leading to a Supreme Court of Liberia finding in Republic of Liberia v. Emma Shannon-Walser, 27 LLR 274 (1978) that the constitutional right to counsel includes the right to competent counsel.[6] In 1975, she was the head of a special committee appointed to study all laws affecting women's rights.[7]

In April 1979, Walser challenged the government's detention of opposition leaders alleged to have instigated the rice riots, a precursor to the 1980 Coup d'état. She was removed from the bench in 1979 by a joint resolution of the conservative Legislature.[1] Five hundred Liberian women, including Olubanke King Akerele, petitioned and protested the action, to no avail.[8][9][10] In 2007, Walser was named by the Liberian People's Party as one of those whose "only crime was the advocacy of participatory democracy."[11]

Walser later worked for Amnesty International and moved to Switzerland.[1]

Honours

In October 1975, Walser was one of six women presented the Pax Orbis ex Jure award by the World Peace through Law Center in Washington D.C.[12]

In 2006, Walser was invited by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to be the National Orator on Independence Day.[13] In 2014, she was honoured by the Liberian National Bar Association for her services to the Liberian state.[14]

References
  1. Dunn, Elwood D.; Beyan, Amos J.; Burrowes, Carl Patrick (2000). Historical Dictionary of Liberia. Scarecrow Press. p. 351. ISBN 9781461659310.
  2. West Africa, Issues 2848-2872. Afrimedia International. 1972. p. 63.
  3. Dunn, D. Elwood (2011). The Annual Messages of the Presidents of Liberia 1848–2010: State of the Nation Addresses to the National Legislature. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1451. ISBN 9783598441691.
  4. Konneh, Augustine (1993). "Women and Politics in Africa: The Case of Liberia" (PDF). Proceedings and Papers of the GAH. 14: 107–115.
  5. Liberia-forum, Issues 1-5. Liberia Working Group. 1985. p. 57.
  6. Zogbay Zlahn, Johannes (27 June 2012). "An Unconstitutional And Destabilizing Report: Why The TRC's Final Report Should Not Be Implemented In Its Entirety As Recommended By Mr. Goah". The Perspective. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  7. Africa Woman, Issues 1-18. Africa Journal Limited. 1975. p. 31.
  8. King Akerele, Olubanke (November 2017). "Where Are Women of Unity Party, Where Are Liberian Women, Where Are Elders of Our Nation?". Front Page Africa. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  9. King-Akerele, Olubanke (January 2003). "A Glimpse Into the Life of an African Women Development Practitioner" (PDF). United Nations. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  10. Winfrey, Carey (20 July 1979). "Liberia's Leader Assumes O.A.U. Chairmanship in a Period of Political Crisis at Home". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  11. Liberian People's Party (29 September 2007). "A Position Statement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  12. "World Peace through Law Conference Held in Washington in October". American Bar Association Journal. 61: 1518–1520. December 1975.
  13. Harmon, William Q. (21 July 2017). "170th Independence Day Orator is Dr. Herman Browne". Daily Observer. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  14. Wandah, Edwin G. (5 May 2014). "Several Honored on Law Day Celebration". Monrovia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
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