SC Judges Cry: Stop feeding the public with toxic materials

The nine-member bench hearing the ongoing election petition has issued a warning to party spokespersons and the media to be careful in their presentation of happenings at the Supreme Court in the ongoing election petition hearing.

The bench also cautioned lawyers representing the parties involved in the case not to misrepresent events as they transpire in the chamber.

Mr. Abraham Amaliba, a member of the NDC legal team was singled out for his utterances outside the court by the bench.

To avoid any form of discrepancies, lead counsels for both parties have been asked to inform the public about what transpires in court.

President of the bench, Justice William Atuguba, warned that there had been too many instances of inaccurate reportage about the court proceedings.

A member of the bench also noted that “the public has been served with too much toxic material.”

Counsel for the 3rd respondent wasn't left out of the discussion as he also hopped in to share his thought.

Lawyer Tsikata, with the permission of the court urged both parties in the case to ensure that their respective spokespersons are advised to brief the public with accurate information.

“I think that we are all concerned that there be accurate statements about what happens…not just in these proceedings but just as a matter of basic professional training that there be accuracy in what we represent to the public”, he advised.

Mr. Tsikata revealed that, they have had a lot of concerns about counsels who are present in court, but turn out to “grossly” misrepresent things when given the platforms to address issues that transpired in open court.

Counsel for the 3rd respondent pleaded with his Lordships, to take a strong stance against persons who have made it a habit to always misrepresent the court.

As soon Mr. Tsikata took his seat, another judge shot in that he knows the public had been fed with too much inaccurate reportage about the ways events had turned out in court.

Another member also cited the instance where a newspaper had wrongfully reported the bench’s ruling for the second time on an application by Mr Benony Tony Amekudzi, an Accra-based lawyer, for a review of the court’s decision on his earlier application challenging the hearing of the election petition describing it as a “fight for a majority decision”.

He wondered how the said newspaper managed to publish such an erroneous story.

“We are made to live with such reportage, but we need accurate reportage…that is very important”, he advised.

The Legal Profession Is Important To The State

“The public has been fed with toxic materials and it is going to be very difficult for them to be detoxified. I think that we should try as much as possible to control our supporters so that the court would have the opportunity of finishing this case,” another member of the nine justices said.

Justice Atuguba rounded up the caution by throwing in that "the importance of the legal profession in any democratic dispensation is paramount and very central to the proper functioning and stability of any democratic system. So we should keep it as sacrosanct as possible."

He maintained that he feels baffled that some lawyers could show much love to the organization they belonged to rather than the legal profession, adding that the legal profession is the foundation upon which some of the lawyers have attained the limelight they are enjoying now.

“...it is baffling that a lawyer or any member of a profession will feel more committed to any other organization more than the profession which is the foundation of his life upon which he has attained whatever limelight that has put him in reach with whatever other association he finds himself with...The legal profession is very powerful, important and has an important duty to play in the state,” he said.

Justice Atuguba urged lawyers to keep their duties as lawyers above every other thing.