Supreme Court nominee, Sir Dennis Adjei, has urged Ghana’s judiciary to fiercely protect its independence by resisting interference from the Executive and the Legislature.

According to him, safeguarding the integrity of the bench requires judges to remain uncompromising in the face of external pressures and to uphold the tenets of impartiality, conflict of interest avoidance, and independence.

“Once you are a judge, you must identify yourself as a judge and always have in mind that the executive and the legislature should not have any influence on you,” he said.

“If you allow anybody to influence your conduct, that means you have lost your individual independence to sit.”

Speaking during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, June 16, Sir Dennis outlined his vision for strengthening judicial independence and continuous legal education.

He emphasised the importance of adhering to the judicial code of conduct and called for regular training to help judges build capacity and stay abreast of evolving legal standards.

“We need to continue educating our judges and magistrates. I believe that with the cooperation of the authorities, we will be able to retrain our judges to the extent that their capacities will be built, and they will be able to resist every attempt by either the Executive or any other agencies from encroaching onto their territory,” he added.

Sir Dennis noted that judicial independence is not only structural but personal, and that any compromise of integrity undermines the credibility of the bench.