Beware of Goro boys - Atuguba warns judges

Justice William Atuguba, a judge of the Supreme Court, has cautioned judges against persons he describes as judicial ‘goro boys’ in the profession.

According to him, judges ought to guard against such persons who are within and without their chosen field of work.

In the view of Justice Atuguba, the judiciary, where possible, must resort to “judicial fumigation” against corruption by reporting persons who try to corrupt the Bench.

This, he said, could be done through the lodging of a complaint with the law enforcement agencies or the use of the power of contempt of court.

The Supreme Court judge made the call when he was delivering a keynote address at the opening of the 36th Annual General Meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) yesterday on the theme: “Restoring the Image of The Judiciary.”

With particular reference to the Anas Aremeyaw Anas judicial bribery scandal that rocked the foundation of the judiciary last year, Justice Atuguba was emphatic that it was crucial the judiciary eliminated for good the causes that made it lose its image.

Over 21 circuit court judges and magistrates as well as 12 high court judges were captured on video taking bribes in order to give judgements in favour of those who had offered the bribes – and sometimes to the highest bidder.

But Justice Atuguba contended that it was better for a judge to be perceived as anti-social than corrupt in the eyes of the public.

“The Anas exposé underscores the convention of life in seclusion on the Bench. This convention seems to have waned on the altar of modernity, but our predicament should lead to its vigorous assertion.”

The Supreme Court judge continued: “The observance of this convention and code of ethics would greatly insulate us from social contagion, arising from unbridled social interaction. It is better for a person on the Bench to be wrongly perceived as anti-social than to be correctly perceived as corrupt.”

He said, “Conditions of service of judges in the country are simply a disgrace,” noting that it is generally felt that judges do not receive a living wage and their salaries are inadequate to enable them to live in dignity and maintain their families as they should.

This state of affairs, he noted, “is calculated to undermine the confidence and intimately to undermine the administration of justice itself.”

Justice Atuguba insisted that a strong Judicial Council able to fight for and maintain the independence of the judiciary and assure reasonable conditions of service for judges is an indispensible perquisite to the maintenance of the rule of law in the country.

He underscored, “In short, it is time and I am glad to note that the Bench in recent times has become more proactive in seeking its legitimate welfare by engaging the Executive on issues such as delayed payments of our few entailments.”

Justice Sir Dennis Adjei, a high court judge and president of AMJG, admitted that the image of the judiciary was dented in the eyes of the public in respect of the Anas expose, “although debatable.”

He urged the judges to take a second look at the principles and the laws of sentencing in the country.

Justice Adjei, while announcing that plans were far advanced for the construction of a Club House for judges and magistrates, advised them to take control of their courts.