The chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) Larry Bimi has called the bluff of the Judges and Magistrates who have hauled him and three other lawyers before the General Legal Council. The association wants the four lawyers - Dr. Raymond Atuguba, David Annan, Mr Larry Bimi and Dr Abraham Amaliba to substantiate their claims that judges are corrupt. The four lawyers asserted that judicial corruption in Ghana was not a myth but a reality. They were speaking at a round-table discussion on the Judiciary and Ghana’s justice system in Accra, organized by the National Commission for Civic Education as part of its annual Constitution Week. But the judges say those who allege that judges are corrupt must provide proof. A statement issued by the Judges and Magistrates’ Association said, “For a considerable period of time now, members of the judiciary have become increasingly disturbed by the growing spate of unsubstantiated allegations made against the judiciary, in general, by various legal practitioners.” It said the claims made by the four lawyers must be investigated and judges found culpable appropriately sanctioned or removed from the Bench or prosecuted and “if the critics making the allegations cannot substantiate them, it would mean that the allegations are false or based on rumours or in the figment of the imagination of the critics. Such critics could then be referred to as being irresponsible for making false allegations or peddling false rumours against judges and magistrates which they know would needlessly and unjustifiably result in the ruining of the reputation of members of the Bench.” The judges and magistrates have also decided to boycott sitting on cases involving the said lawyers. But Mr Bimi said the judges and magistrates were simply adopting Machiavellian tactics to gag outspoken lawyers. He said he will rather go into farming than allow himself to be bullied by judges. “They are trying to cow us and we should not allow that to happen because the moment we cannot criticize our judiciary then our freedom and justice as contained in our preamble [of the 1992 Constitution] will be gone and when these things are gone, our democracy is in danger,” he stated. Mr Bimi said there was no justification for the Judges and Magistrates Association to refer him and his colleagues to the General Legal Council because “we didn’t mention any particular judge; we didn’t mention any particular official or person.” He said there were reports about judicial corruption in the country and wondered why the judges and magistrates did not challenge those findings. The NCCE boss said he was ready to meet the judges at the General Legal Council. “I think that somewhere along the line, the judges must realize that in every house there is a Mensah and one Mensah can spoil the name of the whole house,” Mr Bimi who is no longer in active practice counseled. Source: Joy News/Ghana