The Clar Hope Foundation has filed a motion seeking to quash a writ of subpoena duces tecum, arguing that the criminal court lacks jurisdiction and legal authority to compel the production of its records.
The Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force had earlier petitioned Criminal Court “A” to subpoena the foundation’s management for documents related to its construction project in Marshall. The foundation’s legal team, led by Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi and Atty. Walma Blaye Sampson, were scheduled to appear before the court on Thursday, January 23.
Hours before the hearing, however, the foundation submitted a motion asserting that no civil action, criminal proceeding, or petition is currently pending against it. “Under Liberian law, a subpoena—whether ad testificandum or duces tecum—is an ancillary process and must issue in aid of a pending judicial proceeding. A court cannot exercise compulsory process in a vacuum,” the motion stated.
The filing cited Sections 14.1 and 14.2 of the Civil Procedure Law, which define and limit the issuance of subpoenas to active cases, as well as Section 17.3 of the Criminal Procedure Law, which authorizes subpoenas only at the request of parties in an existing criminal action.
The lawyers further invoked Article 21(h) of the 1986 Constitution, which protects individuals from being compelled to furnish testimony or evidence against themselves absent due process.
According to the motion, compelling the foundation to produce financial, donor, and institutional records without a pending case amount to coerced evidence gathering and violates constitutional safeguards.
“The Constitution does not permit the State or its instrumentalities to invoke judicial power as an investigative shortcut,” the lawyers argued.
The motion concluded with a request that the court quash and set aside the subpoena, discharge the foundation from any obligation to appear or produce documents, and affirm that compulsory process may only issue upon the filing of a proper action before a competent court.
