Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo has urged newly sworn-in Magistrates to be independent in carrying out their duties to be able to determine cases fairly.
Swearing in some 23 new Magistrates in Accra on Monday, March 4, 2024, the Chief Justice cautioned the new magistrates of receiving submissions from lawyers and litigants on opposite sides adding that, not being independent will lead them to be likely swayed without an independent mind, they are likely to be swayed by individuals.
“As a judge, you are required to always remember the ethical values with which you are supposed to conduct your work. And we (Judges) speak not only working on truth or fairness but also working in propriety, working in independence and working incompetence. Now talking about independence, you are going to be receiving submissions from lawyers on opposite sides and you are going to also receive the words of litigants on opposite sides. This means that, if you don’t have an independent mind on your own, you’re going to get swayed by someone who is overbearing, someone who is louder than others, someone who seems to attract your thinking or attract your attention,” the Chief Justice cautioned.
Additionally, Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo admonished the Magistrates to be ready for the work they have decide to do thus to be intellectuals and think deeply about cases brought before them.
“When we say that the law rests in the bosom of the judge, it means that the judge understands the law. The judge appreciates the intersectionality of law and can identify which part of law, whether it is the procedure, whether it is the substantive rules of evidence or the rules of the transaction and the judge must understand which one makes the priority”, she explained.
On his part, Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, advised the new Magistrates to be circumspect in the exercise of their judicial powers.
“Some of you have just exited the BAR (row of lawyers) to join the Bench (judges) which is a new environment with its own dynamics.
“In embracing this new challenge, I will admonish you to discharge your duties with diligence and integrity”, he said.
“You want to discharge your duties without fear or favour, affection or ill-will but have in mind that your power is highly circumscribed and in the exercise of that judicial power you’ve being vested with, have in mind that you are the lower base of the judiciary and don’t behave like some judges elsewhere who may want to even question the basis of the Attorney-General in entering a Nolle Prosiqui,” the Deputy AG advised.
The newly sworn-in Magistrates are, Miss Anastacia Yaa Agyeiwaa Karimu, His Worship Bright Ajosagi Akoande, Miss Dromo Afarley Djarbeng, Miss Jeroma Tawiah Owusu, Ms. Claudia Naa Anorkai Akuokor Abbey, Mrs. Melissa Selorm Dadson, Ms. Georgette Carmel Lutterodt and Mrs. Josephine Valeen Akorfa Akpanya-Hlover.
The rest are Mr. Christian Mawusi, Mrs. Christabel Awo Tei Sasraku, H/W Stephen Tabiri, H/W Comfort Asamoah Sarpong, Miss Gloria Afua Kesewa Asamani, H/W Bitam Lari, H/W Juliana Millicent Ocran, Mr. Eric Kwarteng and Mr. Emmanuel Wiafe Adu.
Others are Mr. Jehoshaphat Achina Nyarko, Mr. Eugene Obeng-Ntim, Mr. Iddi Adama, Mrs. Olivia Acquah-Dadzie, Mr. George Wellington Arhin and Mr. Godson Etse Kumado.
