Speaking at the opening of the 2022 Bench, Bar and Faculty Conference (BBFC) in Accra Thursday [April 21, 2022], Mr Dame said it was now a common phenomenon for lawyers to make disparaging comments on social media about judges on so called “political cases” in order to score political points.

“This is often witnessed in commentary on so called political cases where some lawyers perceive the outcome to have a far-reaching consequence for the objectives of political parties they sympathise with.

Faced with adverse rulings, some lawyers go to the rather farcical extent of actually advocating for the abolition or scrapping of our courts,” he said.

The A-G said such unprofessional acts from lawyers had the potential to greatly cause disaffection for the courts and undermine the administration of justice.

“Such disreputable practice on the part of some lawyers, further becomes an inducement to persons who are not members of the legal profession to launch even more savage and illogical attacks on the Judiciary.

This conduct is clearly despicable as it has the ultimate tendency to destroy the integrity of institutions of justice delivery in Ghana,” the A-G added.

Protect the judiciary

Mr Dame said the judiciary plays a crucial role in the country’s democratic dispensation and therefore there was the need to uphold and protect it.

In view of that he said every Ghanaian especially lawyers must be strong advocates for the judiciary.

“The history of this country has shown that the Judiciary is the only arm of government that survives an overthrow of the Constitution.

Its indispensability to our lives, therefore goes without saying. Lawyers ought to be the loudest and strongest defenders of the independence, integrity and importance of the Judiciary, rather than serving as tools for its destruction,” he said.

Conference

The BBFC is an annual conference that bring together the judiciary , the bar (lawyers) and law faculties to deliberate on law related issues and how best to improve the legal profession, legal training and all aspects of the justice delivery system.

This year’s conference was on theme “Survival of the legal profession in a changing world.”

It attracted judges, lawyers, law lecturers and many players in the justice delivery system.