Former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Sam Okudzeto, has criticised the Attorney General's Dr Dominic Ayine's proposed Legal Practitioners’ Standard Board Bill, arguing that the Bar should have been consulted before the proposal was taken to Cabinet.

The proposed legislation, according to the Attorney General, is intended to address the current practice where lawyers and judges adjudicate complaints of unprofessional conduct against their colleagues.

Reacting to the announcement at the GBA Conference in Ada on Monday, September 14, Mr Okudzeto said the move came as a surprise and insisted that the government could not take decisions affecting the legal profession without first consulting the Bar.

Speaking to JoyNews he said consultation was necessary before any legislation affecting lawyers could be considered.

“It’s a wrong approach to legislation. If you want to make a law affecting people, you consult them first. You get their views. But to go to Cabinet without consulting the Bar, you are not the Bar. You are not elected by the Bar,” he said.

Mr Okudzeto said the Attorney General, having been appointed by the President, did not have the mandate to take decisions on behalf of the Bar without its input.

He said his 63 years in legal practice had exposed him to successive attorneys general and that the relationship between the bar and the attorney general's department had traditionally been cordial.

“I’ve dealt with all attorneys general over the years. All of them, there’s always a cordial relationship between the Bar and the Attorney General’s Department,” he said.

Mr Okudzeto argued that the Attorney General should have consulted the Bar before proceeding with the proposed legislation, stressing that lawyers and judges should not be left out of discussions on issues affecting the legal profession.

He said if the Attorney General had concerns that required legislation, he should have brought them to the Bar for discussion before proceeding with the proposal.

“Something is disturbing you; you come to the bar, and you discuss it with them. Or you send them a memo, they will say, ‘Let’s talk about it.’ Perhaps you did not understand it,” he said.

He defended the role of the GBA Council, stressing that it represents lawyers across the country through elected regional representatives.

Mr Okudzeto further argued that decisions affecting the legal profession should not be made by one person without input from others.

“So you can’t think for them. ‘You alone can’t think,’” he said.

Responding to the concerns, Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Srem-Sai said the process had not reached the stage where consultation was required, noting that there would be opportunities for consultation at several stages of the legislative process.

“We have not reached a point where the consultations will be allowed. The consultations are allowed generally when you get Cabinet approval. Then you can do pre-consultation to draft the bill,” he said.

He explained that consultation could continue after the Bill had been drafted and before it was presented to Parliament.

“When you draft it, you can still go back to have a consultation even before you place it before Parliament,” Mr Srem-Sai said.

According to him, Parliament would provide another opportunity for consultation once the bill is laid before the House.

“While it’s in Parliament, there’s also another opportunity for consultation. In fact, consultation is built into every stage of the law-making process,” he said.

Mr Srem-Sai said there should therefore be no concern that the proposed legislation could be passed without the views of the Bar or the wider legal community being heard.

“So there shouldn’t be any fear that any general will pass a bill, put it before Parliament, and pass it without hearing from the Bar or the legal community,” he said.

He also defended the decision to announce the proposal at the GBA Conference, describing the gathering as the biggest platform for lawyers in the country.

He said he would therefore find it difficult to accept the argument that the government should have first written to a few individuals to discuss the proposal before announcing it to the wider legal community.