Qualla: Temple of Justice (Liberia)

Temple of Justice (Liberia): Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mixm4stermich, CC BY-SA 4.0. The words carved into the building used to read 'LET JUSTICE BE DONE TO ALL MEN.' After a renovation in 2008, the last word was removed. Now it reads simply 'LET JUSTICE BE DONE TO ALL.' It is a small edit to a large building, one word dropped from a slogan on a courthouse. But in Liberia, where fourteen years of civil war tested every institution to the point of collapse, even the revision of a motto carries weight. The Temple of Justice on Capitol Hill in Monrovia survived those wars. That it emerged intact enough to be renovated, let alone revised, sets it apart from much of the city around it.

Image: Mixm4stermich | CC BY-SA 4.0

Temple of Justice (Liberia): An Italian Architect on Capitol Hill

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mixm4stermich, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Temple of Justice was designed by Tommaso Valle, a Rome-based architect, during the 1960s, a period when Liberia was building the infrastructure of a modern state under President William Tubman. Capitol Hill in Monrovia was the centerpiece of that ambition. The Executive Mans...

Image: Mixm4stermich | CC BY-SA 4.0

Temple of Justice (Liberia): Surviving What Others Did Not

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mixm4stermich, CC BY-SA 4.0. When the First Liberian Civil War erupted in 1989, Monrovia's buildings became targets, shelters, and casualties. The Executive Mansion across from the Temple was the site of President William Tolbert's assassination during the 1980 coup, and later suffered a devastating fire in ...

Image: Mixm4stermich | CC BY-SA 4.0

Temple of Justice (Liberia): The Renovation and the Revision

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mixm4stermich, CC BY-SA 4.0. The renovation project that began in 2008 addressed the practical damage of neglect: electrical systems, structural repairs, the accumulated wear of a building that had gone years without upkeep. But the most symbolically charged change was the smallest. The original slogan, 'LET...

Image: Mixm4stermich | CC BY-SA 4.0

Temple of Justice (Liberia): Law on a Hill

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mixm4stermich, CC BY-SA 4.0. Capitol Hill today remains the seat of Liberian government. The Temple of Justice houses the Supreme Court, auxiliary courtrooms, and legal offices. The building sits within sight of both the Executive Mansion and the Capitol Building, the three structures forming a compact trian...

Image: Mixm4stermich | CC BY-SA 4.0