The Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood has expressed concerns over the levels of corruption within Ghana’s judicial system.
Speaking at a special ceremony during which new lawyers were called to the bar on Friday, Georgina Theodora Wood said most of Ghana’s lawyers are more interested in making profit and amassing wealth at the expense of ensuring that justice is served.
“We have lost the public confidence in our desire to uphold the values in which we have been trained and for which we claim and proclaim fidelity. Many of us have become unbridled businessmen and women whose only desires are to maximise profit and amass wealth at the expense of professional and ethical behaviour,” the worried Chief Justice lamented.
Ghana’s judiciary has been hit with a massive corruption scandal that has shaken the foundation of the nation’s justice delivery system.
Referring to recent happenings, the Chief Justice said the scandal has delved a huge blow to the image of the judiciary.
“The recent scandal to hit the judiciary which is the subject of ongoing internal investigations has brought into sharp focus the need for … each member of the legal fraternity to take an introspective view of himself or herself and the institution as a whole,”she said.
She believes the “sober reflection will help Ghanaians identify where we have fallen short, stagnated or even regressed and fashion appropriate remedial measures which will diminish the canker and also distinguish the possibility of a future recurrence.”
She was however quick to add that “beyond the introspection and internal institutional remedial mechanisms” the burden of sanitizing the judiciary can neither be the responsibility of the Chief Justice nor the Judicial Council.
The Chief Justice pointed out that recent events has compelled the Judicial Council to become unrelenting in its pursuit to build a “robust and trustworthy judiciary.”
“We have ensured among other things that disciplinary actions have been taken against Judges who have been found to have indulged in unethical or unprofessional behaviour. The same can be said about the General Legal Council which has been most active in recent years and it has been in its many years of its existence by ensuring that disciplinary actions have been taken against offending lawyers.”
She also reminded the new lawyers who have intentions of engaging in unprofessional behaviour that the “long arm of the Council awaits them,” adding that the council is determined that “no dishonourable member of the profession will enjoy immunity or impunity.”
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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