The Ghana Bar Association (GBA), has expressed disappointment over comments made by the Member of Parliament for the Madina Constituency, Francis-Xavier Sosu, over some judges during last Friday’s ‘Yentua’ Demonstration.

Contained in a statement dated February 14, the Association revealed that the remarks by the NDC legislator is irresponsible as it has the potential of courting disaffection for the judges and exposing them to danger.

It will be recalled that during the ‘Yentua’ demonstration on February 11, the Madina MP, who joined protestors, decried government’s decision to impose a 1.75% levy on all electronic transactions. In the interview, lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu suggested that the tenure of office of judges is tied to the tenure of the political regime under which judges are appointed, and that ‘political judges will be treated politically’. He equally indicated that the “political judges” would lose their offices when the political regimes whose bidding such judges do, are no longer in power.

“The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has noted with disquiet and grave disappointment the assertion by Francis Xavier Sosu Esq. that some Judges are ‘political judges’. The said assertion by Francis Xavier Sosu, Member of Parliament for the Madina Constituency, was made during an interview he granted the media, and is contained in a video that is available on social media”.
Ghana Bar Association

The GBA expressed that it finds the assertion by Francis Xavier Sosu Esq. very unprofessional, unfortunate, irresponsible and distasteful and same smacks of deep-seated ignorance. The Association emphasized that the tenure of judges per the Constitution, 1992, and other relevant laws, “is never in any way whatsoever tied to the tenure of the political regime under which judges are appointed”.

“Judges, unlike political office holders, are not elected into office, hence it is reckless for anybody to give the slightest suggestion that the tenure of judges are linked to the tenure of the political regimes under which judges are appointed”.
Ghana Bar Association

Following this, GBA cautioned that, “as a people, we must be guided by our history”. It indicated that it was due to such similar irresponsible and unguarded utterances in the past by people who ought to have known better that resulted in the abduction and gruesome murder of the three High Court Judges.

The GBA observed that such ignorant and deliberate misinformation is gradually but steadily casting a slur on the appreciable gains that have been made in the democratic experiment as a nation. It is in the light of this that the GBA views as unprofessional, irresponsible and totally out of place for a Lawyer to make utterances in the nature of those by Francis Xavier Sosu.

The Association urged lawyers, irrespective of their status in society, to “refrain from visiting unwarranted and unnecessary attack on members of the Judiciary and Judges for that matter”.

Again, it noted that lawyers must always be circumspect and make efforts to make or give a true representation of the position of the law on each and every matter at all times.

“Our society stands to benefit a great deal when lawyers communicate the true and proper position of the law on every subject matter”.
Ghana Bar Association