Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Lawyer Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu
• Lawyer Sosu wants Ghana to be progressive on matters of procedural justice
• MP says it is the only way to accommodate progress
• Sosu wants Ghana to practice proper separation of powers
Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Xavier-Francis Sosu, has stated that Ghana must be seen to be more progressive on matters of procedural justice.
Appearing on the recent episode of #SayItLoud on GhanaWeb TV, the private legal practitioner shared his view on some concerns raised about the legal system in the country being used as a tool for the delivery of injustice.
According to the MP, Ghana, at the moment, is at a point where the legal system leans towards the existence of rule of law and constitutional democratic governance only in books and not in practice.
“I think that we must move, society is growing and the more we behave in this manner, the more we are taken backwards. Every society is growing and we are moving forward. We must be seen to be more proactive and more receptive to issues of procedural justice.”
“If you say I am wrong, no problem; this is what the law says, so deal with me in accordance with the law. And then if I raise a legal challenge don’t be worried. Be patient and let’s go through the legal challenge after that you can still go ahead, and that is what makes societies grow,” he said.
He added, “But when remain as if we are a subtle military regime where we have the law but we really do not follow the law; we believe in Constitutionalism. We say that we believe in the constitution. But would we believe in the values of the constitution? No we are not.”
When the host of the programme inquired whether the MP shares in the belief that the justice delivery in the country is tilting towards subtle militarization as he sought to suggest, the MP replied “absolutely.”
The MP who is a member of Parliament’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee sighted current provisions in the Legal Professions Act which makes the Chief Justice the Chairman of the General Legal Council to back his claim.
“The Chief Justice who is the head of the judiciary is the head or the Chairman of the General Legal Council. Now when the General Legal Council takes a wrong decision and you challenge the decision, it is the chief justice that will empanel a court to listen to that decision. Are we real? We need to grow. If you take the separation of powers, there is a reason why in every democracy separation of powers is critical.
“Because that is the only way we can hold each other accountable without necessarily blurring the lines or the counters between the various institutions. Such duplicity reduces the effectiveness of the kind of checks and balances that must exist in every progressive society,” he stated.
Watch Xavier-Francis Sosu’s appearance on #SayItLoud below: