Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has “with all due respect” counseled Ghanaian judges and magistrates to refrain from acts that detract from the very principles underpinning their calling. He says never again should it be the duty of Ghanaian judges and courts, let alone the Supreme Court, being the ultimate bastions of freedoms and rights, to throw out the case of a litigant because judges are at variance with his counsel, more so when the counsel has not been debarred or suspended from practice. Okudzeto Ablakwa, who was speaking on Radio Gold’s Alhaji and Alhaji programme, was contributing to a discussion of the raging impasse between the Judges and Magistrates' Association - an association of all judges and magistrates in Ghana - and four lawyers blacklisted for openly labeling the judiciary and judges as corrupt. The association has reported the conduct of the four lawyers: Raymond Atuguba, David Annan, Abraham Amaliba and Larry Bimi to the General Legal Council and is demanding that the four provide proof of the accusations or the courts would not entertain their presence should they appear as counsel in any case. Last Thursday, May 19, the Supreme Court carried out the threat, refusing to hear a constitutional case when Raymond Atuguba appeared as counsel. But the Deputy Information Minister says what happened was totally unacceptable and should never again happen. “Dr. Atuguba did not walk to the Supreme Court this week with his own case. He walked to the Supreme Court with the case of another citizen. What happens to that citizen’s right of choice, right to counsel, which is a constitutional right, the right of a counsel of your choice, so don’t tell me that there are other thousands of lawyers you can go and look for. If I want Uncle Sam Pee Yalley to be my lawyer, there should be proper reason why he cannot be my lawyer, especially if he has not been debarred, his license is active, he goes to the court and you throw him out, is this justice? “I think that never again should this thing happen. I think that these four lawyers must continue to have their day in court. They must eat, they must survive, what about their wives and children, what about their families, what about their dependants, what about the people who they represent? They must continue to have their day in court until the General Legal Council says that you have done wrong so we are stripping you or debarring you, or you should go and apologise or you’ve done no wrong, continue with your practice. Until there is a determination in this matter, please the very rules that these courts were established to ensure that they are enforcing, they should not be the first to be seen to be breaking these rules. It is totally unacceptable and I say this with all due respect.” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa quoted profusely comments by the Chief Justice emphasizing her determination to build a more credible image for the judiciary by fighting corruption in the judiciary, as well as her promptings for persons with proof of corruption to be bold and provide same, and had expected that rather than banish the four lawyers, they would be invited to assist with the exercise to fight corruption.