Ms. Tetteh argued that reforms that would liberalize the training of lawyers are needed to ease the pressure on the Ghana Law School, which is currently the only centre for training lawyers.

The current training regime limits the intake into the Ghana Law School to under 500 of the about-2000 LLB graduates annually.

The MP, who is also a member of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee of Parliament, and a law student, said such reforms will ultimately bolster the legal delivery system in Ghana.

She noted that some of these concerns stemmed from the Legal Aid scheme which has only 21 lawyers serving on it.

“We all do degrees in various universities. You can’t tell me because I went to the University of Cape Coast and the quality of my degree is not compared to the quality coming from Zenith or Legon… If the standard is given saying your students must get up to this grade to be able to be called to the bar and the person gets the grade, how is the quality going to decrease or something?” she asked.

Ms. Tetteh noted that only 470 students are admitted annually to the Ghana Law School, an improvement on the recent number of about 250 LLB graduates.

However “the ceiling they have given is not because it is backed by any law… [but] inadequate resources and lack of infrastructure is the reason. This means whether one passes or not, one is not guaranteed admissions,” Ms. Tetteh added.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Association has chastised the Ministry of Finance, the Justice and Attorney General’s Department and the Fair Wages and Salary Commission for failing to implement some directives of the National Labour Commission for their improved conditions of service which includes the provision of vehicles, harmonized salaries, sustainable pension schemes and logistical support.

[contextly_sidebar id=”I5sn69PI6dF7EzrSnPXLL1VaL5om3gSV”]A letter written by the association to the NLC lamented that “even though the Association has forwarded the SSNIT numbers of all its members to the legal service board as directed, till date no pension scheme has been put in place for state attorneys who were on the old CAP 30.”

The Association further noted that it has submitted proposed comprehensive conditions of service to the legal service board which is chaired by the Minister for Justice and Attorney General but “it is quite disheartening that over one year after the award was published no proper conditions of service have been implemented for State Attorneys.”

“The Association of State Attorneys is taking a very serious view about the refusal of the respondent herein to comply with NLC’s compulsory arbitration award which is binding on all parties to the dispute even after one year of the publication of same,” the letter added.

Below are the reliefs being sought by State Attorneys:

1. Payments of correct harmonized salaries to state attorneys.
2. Sustainable pension scheme
3. Free official vehicles
4. Research allowance
5. Housing facilities or allowance
6. Free healthcare
7. Payment of outstanding leap, clothing and fuel
8. Payment of outstanding promotion salary arrears
9. Logistic support, machinery, equipment and tools
10. And illegal revision of conditions of service for state attorneys

“We are by this letter giving notice of our intention to resort to legal strike in 7 days if our demands are not met,” the letter added.

State Attorneys call off strike

State attorneys embarked on a strike about three months ago over the same issues.

It later called off the strike to enable them go through the arbitration process.

State attorneys ditching gov’t for better paying jobs

The Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Attakora Obuobisa had earlier complained that experienced state lawyers had abandoned the service for better paying jobs.

She noted that currently, Accra has only 36 prosecuting attorneys, adding that the situation is “worse in the regional offices.”

“People will come, gain the experience and go to better paying jobs, that affects the numbers that we have and the volume of work. We have so much work to do…sometimes you could have a docket sent to us which could be with a particular attorney for about three weeks or a month, not because that Attorney does not want to pay attention to the docket but that attorney has for instance 60 other dockets to work on,” she added.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post State Attorneys to strike again if… appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mrs Wood said measuring their professional success in monetary, material terms as well as the trappings of wealth and power would rather blind them and throw them overboard or lead them to doom.

The Chief Justice gave the advice during the enrollment of 250 newly trained lawyers to the bar at the State House in Accra.

She said commitment to ethical ‘lawyering’ and hard work would not only earn them rewards and good financial harvest but would win them public trust, respect and honour.

Mrs Wood urged the new lawyers to do away with arrogance and self-importance so they could receive “a good foundation on which to build the practice of law.”

The Chief Justice said it was also imperative that lawyers remained steadfast to the core values and ideals of the profession with an unwavering commitment to rule of law and justice for all.

She urged the lawyers to be mindful of the fact that having sufficient knowledge in law alone was not enough for them to play useful roles in society.

“”You need to understand the political, socio-economic, cultural as well as international context within which you will function effectively  as good lawyers. This is because the law does not function in a vacuum,” she said.

The Chief Justice said as lawyers they occupied a unique position to contribute to the building of Ghana’s democratic credentials which are built on the foundation of rule of law.

She said the legal profession was not exactly what it used to be adding “this why we expect that your future conduct will greatly assist us to shore up the image of this noble profession.

The Chief Justice said lawyers have always been at the forefront of the country’s struggle for freedom, justice and equality.

“Thus as leaders, you should not only be concerned  with whether your decision, actions and omission conforms to the laws of the land but also that they enhance the building of the democratic culture and contribute to political, social, economic, cultural or moral wholesomeness of our people.

Mrs Wood urged them to resolve not to become mere additions to the legal profession but be counted as positive contributors, shaping the frontiers of the law and making their trade relevant.

She urged them to have the interest of the nation and welfare of the people at heart as the country stands in dire need of leaders.

Mrs Wood said “a lawyer was not a private person. He or she is the repository of a nation’s laws, a practitioner or master of the law and a nation’s conscience.”

She said the actions of lawyers have far reaching consequences on individual clients, families, communities and the nation they served.

“Therefore our dealings with them must be such as would promote confidence, faith and trust in the law and not otherwise.”

The CJ, Justice Sophia Akuffo, a Supreme Court Judge and Dr Dominic Ayini, Deputy Minister for Justice and Attorney General took turns to present certificates and undertakings to the new members of the bar.

Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, New Patriotic Party Parliamentary Candidate for the Ofoase Ayirebi constituency, was among the 250 persons called to the bar.

Mr Emmanuel Kyei was adjudged the best all round performance in both Parts I and II of the Professional Law Examinations.

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Source: GNA

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