Liberia: Supreme Court Justice Upholds Order for New Trial in Hage Property Fraud Case

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a report by The Liberian Investigator, reported that Liberia Supreme Court Associate Justice Yussif Kaba has declined to block a new trial in a property fraud dispute involving Nohad M. Hage. In a July 20 ruling from chambers in Monrovia, Kaba denied a petition for a writ of prohibition filed by Oumou Sirleaf Hage, Bashir Millard Hage and Racquel Milad Hage, who had sought to preserve a unanimous jury verdict they previously won.

The dispute stems from a Nov. 27, 2025 decision by Civil Law Court Judge Peter Gbeneweleh at the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Montserrado County. Gbeneweleh set aside the jury’s verdict and ordered the case retried, finding that the parties accusing Nohad Hage of fraud over three disputed properties had not met the clear and convincing evidence standard required for such claims. He concluded the verdict was not supported by the weight of the evidence.

Kaba ruled that the trial judge had acted within the powers granted under Liberia’s civil procedure rules. According to the report, those rules allow a court to overturn a verdict and order a new trial when the verdict conflicts with the evidence or when justice requires it, provided the motion is filed within the statutory timeframe. Kaba found no abuse of discretion, improper legal standard or overreach by the lower court.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Cllr. Arthur Johnson, objected to the chambers ruling and announced an appeal to the Supreme Court’s full bench. Nohad Hage’s counsel, Cllr. Mark M. M. Marvey, indicated the appeal did not concern his client. The case matters because it tests how Liberia’s courts balance jury verdicts against a trial judge’s authority to order a retrial in civil fraud disputes.