At annual conference of the Ghana Bar Association, President Kufuor, Asantehene, the Chief Justice and Deputy Attorney-General have weighed in on a shameful judicial scandal that has rocked the nation.

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The Deputy Attorney-General Dominic Ayine is addressing a conference of lawyers at the KNUST in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi. The conference comes at a time confidence in the judiciary is at its lowest. About 34 judges have been implicated in a judicial scandal. They were captured on video taking bribes.

He has observed that poverty can serve as a barrier to access to justice. He is proposing that every morning, lawyers and court clerks recite Article 40 of the Magna Carta

(40) To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice

If an official refuses to recite it, he should be made to resign, he says. He stresses the importance of the integrity of the judiciary with a rhetorical question “if gold rusts, what will iron do?””

File photo: Dominic Ayine

He expresses serious concerns about the difficulties in entering law school and access to professional legal education.

In 2007, 400 students sat for post-graduate entrance exams. But this shot up to 700 in the following year.

He says the growth of the middle class, job opportunities and the close relationship between law and politics is pushing the demand for legal education.

The Chief Justice Georgina Wood

She admits that revelations of corruption in the judiciary has "slightly dampened" the atmosphere at this year's conference. But she stresses that she is honoured to be at the conference.

File photo: Georgina Wood

Chief Justice Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood has promised to “swiftly and decisively apply appropriate sanctions” if judges implicated in a bribery scandal are found guilty.

Georgina Wood was at pains to stress that bad judges, lawyers and court clerks cannot be allowed to derail the efforts of those zealous to protect the integrity of the judiciary.

Referring to a judicial scandal involving 34 judges who were allegedly caught in a video collecting bribes, Georgina Wood lamented that “justice was wounded last week”.

She told lawyers gathered at an annual conference of the Ghana Bar Association, the allegations against the judges have left a “heavy dark shadow on the legal community” and “deepened long held suspicions” in the public about corruption in the judiciary.

Nonetheless, the judiciary in Ghana is “shock-resistant and certainly resilient” because the scandal is an opportunity to cleanse the institution.

The implicated judges will “face the wrath of the law and bear the full force of blind justice that knows no favouritism” Georgina Wood insisted.

People rely on judges as the last point of call between themselves and government or between themselves and others, she explained

Justice, she said, must therefore be discharged in a way that builds the confidence in people seeking their services.

“Corruption is the exact opposite of rule of law,” the Chief Justice reminded the lawyers, noting that not only does corruption hinder rule of law, but also undermines the judicial system.

The judiciary like any other working environment suffers the reality of corruption, a global problem, which should be tackled head-on, she remarked.

She further opined that corruption in any aspect in society is contemptible but particular abhorring in the judiciary.

She is hopeful having a correct understanding of the love of God would greatly assist the nation to bring corruption under control.

Mr. Georgina Wood defended that the scandal that has not robbed the judiciary of its institutional integrity. The exposé, she said, should provide the silver lining to clean and santise the judicial system.

 

President John Kufour

 

 

File photo: President John Kufuor

These are difficult times for our nation. The citizenry are being battered from all spheres of life - social, economic, corruption. Our society seems to be breaking apart. The meaning of justice itself is being questioned.

The ancient legal profession perceived as the light of the nation does not seem to be rising to the challenge of leadership. To know what the rule of law is you have to define the law. He defines the law quoting Plato and Aristotle as "an embodiment of reason whether in the individual or community".

He quotes another philosopher who said the law is “the final glue that holds fundamentally disorganized society". The need for social order defines the need for the rule of law.

''It is more proper that law should govern than any one of the citizen'', President Kufuor's love for Aristotle continues in another quote. He said the social contract must bring security and development for the people and this is why people submit to the law.

Otherwise the "contract is a sell-out", he said. Even the galaxy, inter-planetary movements are guided by rules. He said if a leader shows no interest in obeying the law he is out of place in the universe.

The rule of law will be meaningless unless there is access to justice. Hence this access must not be linked with affordability. The people become voiceless if they cannot have justice.

In the absence of justice what is sovereignty but organized robbery?” he quotes St. Augustine. It is essential for the judiciary to simply court processes, reduce the backlog and use other alternative dispute services.

Many nations have undertaken industrialization without taking into account the environment hence causing the over-heating of the environment. This is causing climate change.

Climate change has also changed the regularity of seasons. Droughts come unexpectedly and we are suffering many unpredictable changes. Ghana's fatal rains last June could have been as a result of climate change.

Since independence, the private sector has not been given the room to blossom and a weak private sector is affecting the strength of the cedi. He wants the state to intervene to ensure that the exercises of the market are checked so the citizen becomes a beneficiary of the market.

He says green-technology is replacing the demand for fossil fuel. The state should appreciate the need to tap into wind and solar power as a source of renewable energy.

Ideology is really becoming more and more irrelevant. China supposed to be communist is becoming more capitalist than ever. The judiciary is the mouthpiece of the constitution.

Lack of justice has plunged nations into war, he says. Anything works than a false oracle. Those in the judiciary must hang their heads in shame. Technology makes the exposure in the judiciary instant. He calls for swift response to the bribery scandal.

It has had to take a single individual to unearth corruption in the judiciary, he says. There are virtuous members in the bar and bench. He wants the selection for elevation to the bench to be more critical.

He recalls that judges are not even expected to socialize and that the revelations are a rude shock. It is a cancerous tumor that must be removed, he says.

He was called to the bar in 1961 in the UK and in Ghana in 1962. He has used his law in politics more than in court. This shows how important law is in helping professionals become better in every sphere of life they find themselves.

 

Asantehene Otumfuor Osei Tutu

He welcomes the Ghana Bar Association to Kumasi. He has been conferred an honory member of the Ghana Bar Association.

The spirit of the nation is in despair, he 'puts it to' them. He said the judicial scandal has rocked the nation. The nation feels betrayed. He praises some famous lawyers who combined legal intelligence to moral integrity. They must be turning in their graves, he says.

But he does not despair. The commitment of the nation to democracy is irreversible. There is no way this nation will allow the judiciary to wither away. He promises that the nation will work to rescue the image of the judiciary and make it stronger and indestructible.

The scandal is a wake-up call to all the arms of government, public sector and Ghanaians in general. He refers to the book of Samuel "as it was in the days of Noah ....so shall be the sign of the coming of the end.

He tells lawyers to repent, repent otherwise the floods will sweep you away.

He refers to the mentally-ill man who walked into the President's church carrying a gun. The judge wasted no time in sentencing him to 10-years imprisonment albeit hastily.

Rule of law becomes the ruin of law if due process is not followed as was the case of Charles Antwi who received no legal representation. This immutable process was not made available to the mentally-ill gun man. The rule of law was affirmed after the ruling was over-turned, he says.

He wants to conference to produce a declaration to protect the law when it is brought into disrepute as was the case of Charles Antwi.

The law is not an arse but the actions of the people in the legal profession whose actions mimick the unfortunate mammal. He draws the attention of the Chief Justice to the difficulties faced in justice delivery in Kumasi.

He laments that the Appeals Court judges move to Kumasi to deliver justice only 4 times a week because of the lack of residential accommodation. He says he is interested in helping provide accommodation so Kumasi can get a permanent Appeals Court.

He is concerned that the GBA has been silent on the preparations about the next general elections. He says three women lawyers are handing three sensitive positions in Ghana to the envy of the world.

The Chief Justice, the Justice Minister and Electoral Commission.

''Is our electoral register tainted or not?'' he challenges and reminds lawyers that a credible results must come from a credible voters register. Law and politics are Siamese twins, he says and demands lawyers to respond to the challenge of the credibility of Ghana's voters register.