President of the Ghana Bar Association, Efua Ghartey, has called on members to spearhead the making of proposals on guidelines surrounding the formulation of rules of procedure for the impeachment of Article 71 Office Holders.
She intimated that fronting these processes will ensure a fair measure of justice and prevent arbitrariness.
Speaking at the Mid-Year Conference of the Ghana Bar Association, Mrs Ghartey noted that the timing of guidelines is paramount, especially since the country is being faced with an unprecedented event of the removal of the Chief Justice from office.
The GBA President further charged lawyers to educate and make informed commentaries which will enlighten the public regarding the processes involved.
“Indeed, it is for this reason that in the wisdom of the Supreme Court in the 2020 judgement of The Republic v the Chief Justice and the Attorney General, reference number 36/0272019, the Court led by Dotse JSC, in the epilogue of the Judgment called for the formulation of Rules of Procedure for the impeachment of Article 71 office holders in the conduct of proceedings under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Judgement concluded that: “Judges be accorded a fair measure of justice, fairness and equity in all deliberations that affect them,” Efua Ghartey posited.
“It is about time that these guidelines were produced in order to eliminate arbitrariness in such proceedings, which ought to be held expeditiously and in open court, given the necessary publicity such matters attract. The Bar must take the lead and make proposals in this regard.”
She also asserted that the Bar has had committees whose mandates included contributing to legal opinions on matters that are of public interest, adding that efforts were underway to revive such committees.
“The Bar traditionally has had committees, some of which have a public interface, such as the Legal and Constitutional committee which, among other things, contributes sound legal opinions to Parliament when Bills are going through the consideration stage. This Committee has also advised the Bar on legal matters, especially constitutional matters that affect the Nation and has on occasion in the past led the Bar to commence legal proceedings in the interest of the public. This committee is being revived. Interestingly, in the seventies, this Committee was known as the Political and Constitutional Committee.”
“Another such Committee, the Public Awareness Committee, is one that seeks to educate the public on topical legal issues. One such issue, which is currently on the lips of Ghanaians as a result of the publicity associated with the process triggered for the Removal of the Chief Justice, is: what is a prima facie case? People then go on to ask, what is the raison d’être for establishing a prima facie case? Are there any standards to be met in concluding that a prima facie has been established?
“Having been informed as a country that petitions against the Chief Justice have been filed, you are repeatedly asked, at what point in time does the country get to know the contents of the petition? What if the Petitions are frivolous, but steps have been taken which may impugn the reputation of the person against whom the petitions have been filed?
“Assuming that there is a hearing, how long should the hearing be? Can the Chief Justice elect to have the proceedings heard in public instead of in camera, and many more such questions? This process is a novel one in our history as a Country, and we, the Bar, must continue to monitor the situation and not hesitate to express our opinion on it where the circumstances demand. It is important that in such matters, justice is not only done, but manifestly be seen to have been done.
