The four lawyers, Dr. Raymond Atuguba, Abraham Amaliba, David Annan and Larry Bimi, were recently reported to have been prevented from representing their clients as a result of a decision by the Association of Magistrates and Judges to boycott cases involving the lawyers, based on their comments.
The group, in their petition yesterday, pleaded that the Chief Justice should intervene in order to stop “the wanton victimization of the four lawyers who they believed were exercising their inalienable right to free speech”.
It requested that the lawyers should not be prevented from practising their profession from which they derived their livelihood.
It added that the lawyers should not be prevented from practising their profession as that would deny their clients their constitutional right to choose a lawyer of their choice.
The group observed that the General Legal Council, the only body that could debar them, had not yet heard the four lawyers.
The group also called for the Chief Justice to set up an independent enquiry, inviting members of the public to submit complaints about corruption within the judiciary. “Those citizens of Ghana willing to come forward should be given immunity to encourage them to submit complaints, especially about their personal experiences with our courts”.
The Judicial Council, they added, should “initiate credible and measurable actions to ensure that judicial accountability is entrenched in order to exorcise the canker of corruption, which has bedevilled the institution”.
The group asked the Chief Justice to use her good office to “ensure the absolute independence of the judiciary, which is a non-negotiable principle underpinning any good justice delivery system”.
The Chief Justice should “ensure that the Association of Magistrates and Judges does not become a threat to judicial independence as it appears to be becoming. Also there was a need for a review of the association’s mandate as it appears to have become a Labour Union which judges and magistrates are not allowed to form” they added.
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