Veep urges Judiciary to help entrench democracy
Judiciary called upon to win public trust
Veep urges Judiciary to help entrench
democracy
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 29 November 2001-Alhaji Aliu Mahama, the Vice-President on Wednesday called on the judiciary to play an active role in sustenance of democracy and the rule of law.
Addressing judges, lawyers and staff of the judicial service in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi, Alhaji Mahama expressed the sentiment of the government to improve their conditions of service to enable them to dispense justice freely and fairly.
"You are the pillar of the society and our democracy of course and so if law and order, and justice break down all of us would be in trouble, "he said.
Alhaji Mahama, therefore, urged the judiciary to dispense justice without fear or favour stressing that justice should not be dispensed to the highest bidder. It should not be the rich who always have the advantage.
The Vice-President advised them to live above reproach and ensure that they deliver justice to everybody so that they give a good image to the profession.
He talked about the high level of indiscipline and the break down of law and order in the society and asked the judiciary to ensure that hardened criminals such as armed robbers and rapists are not granted undeserved bails.
The Vice-President assured the Judiciary of its independence and freedom from government interference and said the Executive is offering them the fullest support, so that they would deliver justice in all their endeavours.
Justice C.M. Quaye, the Supervising High Court Judge of Ashanti in a welcoming address appealed to the Vice-President to help in the rehabilitation and beautification of the High Court buildings.
He said the High Court lacked adequately stocked library, access road, and better condition of services for judges and lawyers.
Mr. Dei Kwarteng, President of the Ashanti Region branch of the Ghana Bar Association also appalled to the Vice-President to help in the provision of accommodation for judges who commute to other communities to discharge their duties.
The Vice-President, who was accompanied by Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Mr. Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, Party Executives and Mr. Maxwell Kofi Jumah, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, later visited the on-going Grand Sales 2001 Exhibition taking place at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi. The Vice-President is on a four-day working visit to the region.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Ho (Volta Region) 29 November 2001 - The Judiciary has been called upon to delve into the reasons why the public considered the administration of justice as tainted with corruption instead of being dismissive of this view.
Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboa, Volta Regional Minister, made the call in a speech read for him at the opening of the 2001/2002 legal year criminal session at the High Court in Ho on Wednesday.
"A feeling of self-righteousness by a Judge or Counsel that he has done his duty according to law and without fear of favour is not enough to foster or sustain public confidence in the administration of justice by our Courts", he said.
Mr Owusu-Yeboa, who is a Lawyer by profession, therefore, recommended the institution of a system of public education through lectures and symposia on the law and judicial processes to enable the general public to acquire knowledge of the administration of justice in the country.
Speaking on: "Fostering public confidence in the administration of justice by our courts-A shared responsibility", the Minister said, "one of the cardinal principles of the administration of justice was that justice must not only be done but that it must be manifestly seen to have been done".
Mr Owusu-Yeboa said this principle did not, however, mean that judgement should "pander to public sentiments, opinions and pressure".
He said Journalists should also be encouraged to understand court processes to enable them to produce accurate reports on court proceedings, rulings and judgements in order to avoid misinforming the public thereby undermining public confidence in the administration of justice.
Mr Owusu-Yeboa advised judges and lawyers to guard against adopting bullying tactics against those, who appeared before them, as this tended to undermine the trust reposed in them by the public.
He cautioned Counsel against engaging in acts and utterances that tended to undermine the integrity of judges. "A party, who finds his Counsel engaged in rather rancorous and acrimonious legal debate with a Presiding Judge could hastily conclude, however, erroneously that such a Judge had lost his impartiality," Mr Owusu-Yeboa cautioned.
The Supervising High Court Judge of the Region, Mr Justice Paul K. Gyaesayor expressed concern about heads of departments in the civil service nominating officers they considered as unproductive and liabilities to serve as jurors in the trial of serious criminal cases.
He said it was expected that in view of the reservations, which the public had regarding dispensation of justice, heads of departments should, henceforth, send competent and knowledgeable officers to assist the courts in dispensing justice in cases such as murder, manslaughter and rape.
Mr Gyaesayor explained that there were certain statutes which took away the discretion of Judges in passing sentences in offences related to drugs, sex, rape and defilement and, therefore, called on the public to avoid destructive criticisms of judges in their decisions in such cases.
"Any attempt by the public to dictate to the courts of law how to dispense justice will amount to usurpation of the functions of the judiciary as prescribed by law and this can have serious consequences for the nation," he advised.
He suggested that cases such as robbery and rape should be tried summarily without going through the elaborate and complex procedure for trial on indictment so as to speed up the disposal of such cases.
Mr Gyaesayor said in all 75 criminal cases were listed for hearing during the criminal session made up of 27 murder cases, 24 manslaughter cases, 18 rape cases, three cases each of armed robbery and causing harm.
Mr Jones Dotse, President of the Volta Region branch of the Ghana Bar Association had called on the Association to institute a scheme in which all members would provide free legal service to accused persons who could not engage their own Counsel.
He observed that because of the poor remuneration of Counsel who were engaged by the state to represent such persons they tended to handle the cases badly thus jeopardising fair trail and undermining the course of justice.
Mr Dotse called on the government to provide adequate resources to the Attorney - General's Department and the police to play their roles effectively in the delivery of justice.
GRi../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com