James A. A. Pierre

In January 2008, the Supreme Court of Liberia established the James A. A. Pierre Judicial Institute with the goal of enhancing the legal system in Liberia by providing proper training to all judicial officers and court staff. In June 2008 President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf launched the Institute at a ceremony held at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia. The Institute had its first graduating class from its Professional Magistrate Training Program in June 2011.

On the night of April 12, 1980, the 1980 Liberian coup d'état was staged by enlisted men of the army that overthrew the William Tolbert administration and led to the arrest of many senior government officials. Ten days later, on April 22, 1980, thirteen of them, including Chief Justice Pierre, were summarily executed.

James A. A. Pierre married three times - twice to Rebecca H. Watts and once to Onike Wilson. At the time of death in 1980, he was survived by his widow, Rebecca Watts Pierre and thirteen children - Michael S. N. Pierre, Mabel S. Benson, Carmenia E. Abdallah, Marjorie R. Cooper, James E. Pierre, Alexander A. Pierre, Inez A. Pierre, Gwendolyn H. McClain, George H. Pierre, Aldrich V. Pierre, Samuel A. Pierre, Fitzgerald J. Pierre and Theresa Y. Pierre

Recognizing that the legal profession had undergone vast, complex and technical changes and that there was therefore a corresponding need for an academically trained and qualified body of competent Liberian lawyers, able to interact and compete with their foreign colleagues, Chief Justice Pierre concluded that the apprenticeship system of training Liberian lawyers, under which he himself was trained was anachronistic, outmoded and had outlived its usefulness. In spite of intense opposition, one of his first acts as Chief Justice was to successfully appeal to the Legislature to abolish the apprenticeship system. Accordingly, in 1972 the Legislature amended the New Judiciary Law by adding thereto Section 17.9 which requires as a qualification for membership in the Liberian Bar that all applicants must have obtained a law degree from the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law or from a recognized foreign law school.

Finally on April 12, 1971, he was elevated to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia by President William V. S. Tubman. He held this position until the military coup d'état on April 12, 1980.

He, along with Honorable M. Hidayatullah of India, Honorable Blazo Jovanovic of Yugoslavia, Honorable Warren E. Burger of the United States, Honorable Terje Wold of Norway and Honorable Azu Crabbe of Ghana, was one of only six Chief Justice worldwide selected to be judges at a mock trial of the International Court of Justice organized by the Fifth Conference on World Peace through Law at the Third World Assembly of Judges held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The mock trial, known as the Belgrade Spaceship, took place in July 1971.

Also in 1971, he hosted a judicial conference of West African Anglophone Chief Justices in Monrovia. One of the recommendations of the conference was the establishment of an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) West African Court of Justice to adjudicate regional disputes and this has now been implemented and the ECOWAS Court established.

In January 1952, the late Chief Justice Pierre commenced a long and distinguished legal career in Government with his initial appointment as Defense Counsel for Montserrado County. Subsequent positions held include:

James Alexander Adolphus Pierre (July 18, 1908 – April 22, 1980) was the 13th Chief Justice of Liberia, serving from 1971 until his death in 1980. He had previously served as the Attorney General of Liberia from 1964 to 1971 in the administration of William Tubman.

Pierre was born in Hartford, Grand Bassa County in Liberia on July 18, 1908, the son of Dr. Alexander A. Pierre and Serena M. Pierre. He completed his early education at nearby Bassa Industrial Academy (BIA) and thereafter attended Cuttington Divinity School, then located in Maryland County. He was a member of the class of 1929, the school's last graduating class before it moved.