REMARKS BY GODFRED YEBOAH DAME THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL & MINISTER FOR JUSTICE
AT THE SWEARING-IN OF PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVES OF THE GHANA BAR ASSOCIATION, 2024 ON Monday, 4th November, 2024,
I am delighted to be here, and to deliver this short goodwill message on the swearing-in of new executives of the Bar Association led by the first woman President, Mrs. Efua Ghartey.
It was a pleasure collaborating with the outgone executives led by Yaw Acheampong Boafo Esq., in the interest of the Bar. Yaw, for a better part of my tenure so far as the official leader of the Bar, you were my partner at the General Legal Council, Judicial Council and other fora at which the Bar and the Attorney-General have to work together.
With a steady hand, you managed affairs of the Bar and deepened the technological innovation and transformation of the Bar spearheaded by your predecessor, Anthony Forson, Jnr. The development underscored the fact that legal technology has become an inevitable tool for the execution of the functions of a lawyer. I have no doubt that posterity will judge the contributions of the old executives to the progress of the Bar very fairly. As you bow out, I wish you farewell, but certainly not good bye, in your future aspirations.
Mrs Efua Ghartey, your assumption of the leadership of the Bar, undoubtedly, is historic and one of the high points in the annals of the Bar in this country. Since 1887, when the first Ghanaian indigene, John Mensah Sarbah, was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn and 1958, when the Ghana Bar Association had its first constitution with R. S. Blay elected as the first President, you hold the enviable record as the first woman President of the Ghana Bar. Indeed, you have shattered the glass ceiling of male domination of the Presidency of the Bar.
This morning, I took a look at remarks I made on the swearing-in of the outgone executives on 1st November, 2021. Interestingly, I had this to say “what is conspicuous about the composition of the current Executive is the rather diminished representation of our women. It is my expectation that in the future, the Bar will be kinder to our women, competent and able of course, who put themselves forward for election to offices”. The Bar must have listened intently to this soft admonition by me and responded loudly at the last Bar elections. I am happy that today, unequivocally, we can say that the Bar is being led by women – with the election of Efua Ghartey and Victoria Barth as President and Vice-President respectively. Congratulations to the duo!
I made a comment to Mrs. Ghartey in Kumasi that her election seemed to have a divine touch and meant for a time like this. First, it is symbolic that it came in a year in which the Parliament of Ghana, after enormous difficulty, passed the Affirmative Action Act, which was duly assented to by the President on 30th
As the head of a ministry, the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice, the composition of which has over ninety percent (90%) of all state attorneys being women, I can confidently vouch for the efficiency, industry and integrity of Ghanaian women. Indeed, in 2021, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with technical assistance from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), conducted the first actual corruption survey on people’s experiences in Ghana with a sample size of 15000 Respondents from across the entire country.
One unique feature of the survey was a finding that in Ghana, women are less susceptible to corruption than their male counterparts and that male public officials are twice more likely to solicit bribes than their female counterparts. In my humble view, the female domination of the composition of the Office of the Attorney-General is partly responsible for the virtual minimisation of corruption in the Office.
My deputy, Diana Asonaba-Dapaah, all the way in Nairobi, Kenya, has asked me to remind the gathering that Mrs. Ghartey is a product of Wesley Girls High School. I would say that it is apt at this time to acknowledge the firm foundations in the practice of law which have shaped the life of Mrs Efua Ghartey by that illustrious law firm, Messrs. Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co. The law firm since its founding in 1979, the year in which I was born, has produced a President, a Chief Justice, a sitting Justice of the Supreme Court, three Attorneys-General including my good self, and the first woman President of the Bar. His Excellency the President, kudos! Your mentees are grateful.
Since 2021, when I assumed office as Attorney-General and the official leader of the Bar, the number of lawyers on the Roll of Lawyers has more than doubled with the enrolment of more than 4,000 new lawyers. Mrs. Ghartey, therefore, you lead the Bar at a time that the questions of quality of practice and observance of ethics and standards at the Bar have assumed prime significance with the exponential growth of the Bar.
An increase in numbers always leads to concerns about maintenance of quality in our side of the universe. We are already witnessing a decline in standards of practice to worrying depths. Ethics is jettisoned in the dishonourable quest of some lawyers to win a case or score cheap political points especially.
The Bar Association owes a duty to drive home the point that the privilege to practise law comes with a moral and legal duty to uphold the dignity of the profession and ensure that the privileged call to the Bar is not abused through unprincipled and disreputable conduct. It is only when practitioners maintain the highest standards of ethics that the nobility of the legal profession will be preserved. There cannot be any compromise on this.
The Bar must prevent and condemn each and every act of illegal pressure on the Judiciary. You must be on guard against unscrupulous persons who undermine the independence of the Judiciary by tarnishing its image unjustifiably. Only then will the purity, dignity and majesty of our courts be upheld.
As I have said time and again, judges are often called upon to make decisions on some of the most difficult questions arising from the actions and conduct of persons in this country. They are decisions that very few of us would feel comfortable making. However, it is judges, who with their wisdom derived from long experience, training and discipline, will make such decisions in furtherance of the principle that justice should be done according to law.
In this country, no institution or individual has sovereignty. In accordance with article 1 of the Constitution, sovereignty resides in the people of Ghana and the Constitution is the supreme law of Ghana. That supreme law of Ghana has vested the Judiciary with final judicial power. Every individual or institution, including the person who takes precedence over all in this country – the President – is subject to the courts’ powers to interpret and apply the laws of Ghana without question.
This principle, observed in all civilised societies around the world, has nothing to do with the theories of independence of certain institutions and their procedures. Thus, whatever procedures are utilised by any institution in this country for the conduct of its activity must comply with the Constitution and the laws of Ghana. A default of same will render such procedures liable to be declared by the courts as unconstitutional or illegal. It is as simple as that, and it is non-negotiable. We therefore have a duty to support the Judiciary in its work which is fundamental and crucial to the sustenance of Ghana’s democracy.
The General Legal Council will be right in acting against lawyers who deliberately denigrate the Judiciary and thereby, endanger Ghana’s democracy with a firm fist. The situation where lawyers propound false constitutional theories on radio, misconduct themselves in court and in public but the General Legal Council fails to apply the relevant sanctions, contributes to the erosion of respect for the legal profession, destruction of the integrity of the Judiciary and most importantly, the deterioration of the constitutional order of the country.
Newly sworn-in executives, I have no doubt that the fine blend of experiences and rich profiles that you bring into your respective offices will equip you sufficiently to discharge the demands of your duties and to win the hearts of the Bar, the Bench and the Public. I have no doubt that you will prove equal to the task. I wish you a successful term. The privilege of service is yours. Do your best.
God bless us all!!!!
GODFRED YEBOAH DAME
ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND
MINISTER FOR JUSTICE
04/11/2024
