Frank Davies, a former president of the Greater Accra Bar Association, has criticised some lawyers for denigrating the Chief Justice over the supposed misconduct case against Dr Dominic Ayine, a former deputy attorney general.
Davies has described the lawyers’ comments as “intellectual dishonesty”.
In an exclusive interview with Beatrice Adu on The Big Bulletin, Davies said the matter must be left to the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council to determine.
“Trained lawyers who are supposed to know better have been using very foul language, very unacceptable language, in describing the person of the Chief Justice,” Davies said. “I don’t think it’s fair to him. Well, in their estimation he might be wrong but let that be determined by another forum …”
“We know the ethics”
Davies said, “When matters like these happen, people just jump into the fray and say all manner of things. I find that very disappointing. We all belong to a chosen profession; we know the ethics, we know the rules and we know what to say at any particular time.”
He added, “I think we should be more guarded when we are making pronouncements when matters of this nature happen. There are formal processes of investigating anything that happens in this world.
“When the process is activated people should not just rush and jump into needless conclusions, saying all kinds of things about judicial tyranny and dictatorship. It’s not fair.”
Davies said, “All of us as Ghanaians should interrogate the issues with a broad mind and not jump to these opinions. You can have a position, someone also has a position, but let the line be drawn. I don’t think it’s fair for people to run around badmouthing the Chief Justice.”
Listen to the audio clip below:
Background
Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah has referred Dr Dominic Ayine to the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council for allegedly making unacceptable comments against the judiciary.
The petition, dated 25 May 2021 and addressed to the chairman of the General Legal Council, states that: “These comments are made against the backdrop of the Supreme Court discharging Dr Ayine on a charge of contempt, for a similar comment made against the members of the Supreme Court, during the election petition hearing.”
The petition added: “Dr Ayine apologised profusely when he appeared before the court on a contempt charge and admitted to having made comments which were unbecoming of a lawyer of his standing and former deputy attorney general.”
In the petition, Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah said he found the comments unacceptable and was asking the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council to investigate the matter.
Dr Dominic Ayine reportedly said that the Supreme Court, in adjudicating the Election 2020 petition, failed to apply the rules of procedure and continuously dismissed the plaintiff’s applications. He also questioned the independence of the judiciary in Ghana.
He made these remarks during a Centre for Democratic Development (CDD)-Ghana round-table discussion on the topic “Presidential Election Petitions and Their Impact on Africa’s Democracy”.
”Impeding” the petitioner
Dr Ayine reportedly said: “I expected the Supreme Court to apply faithfully the rules of procedure to – in terms of adducing evidence – prove the petitioner’s case and so on. What we saw was a Supreme Court that was constantly putting hurdles in the way of the petitioner in terms of adducing evidence to prove the petitioner’s case.”
He added, “I am sure, for ordinary Ghanaians or the electorate generally, the fact that the Supreme Court judges, all nine of them, on almost every application was unanimous in rejecting and dismissing the case of the petitioner was very telling in terms of the open-mindedness …”
This decision by the Chief Justice to raise a complaint about Dr Ayine’s comments has sparked talking points in the country, with some describing the move as a sign of the return of “judicial tyranny” in Ghana.
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