Be cautious of constitutional amendments- Asante

Accra, April 20, GNA - Nana S.K.B. Asante, a constitutional law expert on Monday warned against the clamour for constitutional amendments in the country, saying the essence of constitutionalism did not lie in drafting a perfect document.

He said the country must rather cultivate and live a culture of democratic constitutionalism, since most of the factors that threatened the viability of the political system lied outside the text of the Constitution.

Nana Asante gave the caution at a durbar in Accra organised by the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Legon, to crown its 50th Anniversary celebration. The Faculty's Golden Jubilee celebration was on the theme: "Faculty of law (UG)@ 50: "Contribution to Education, Governance and Socio-economic Development."

Nana Asante therefore pointed out that factors that affected constitutionalism such as political intolerance, ethnicity, lack of self restraint and respect for others were impossible to be fixed by any a constitutional draftsman.

"Many ostensibly constitutional issues can be resolved by good governance, good sense, meaningful conventions and of course by imaginative judicial review", he added.

Touching on the achievements of the Faculty, Nana Asante said alumni of the Faculty was the backbone of legal practice in the country and commended its products for their contribution to rule of law and good governance in the county. Nana Asante however, expressed disappointment over the lack of access to legal services in rural areas and called on the alumni to make an impact in those areas. The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, urged past students to give back to the Faculty to help develop legal education in the country.

She said the judiciary had instituted a mentoring for second cycle institutions to introduce young students to law and expressed the hope that it would help demystify legal practice and the judicial service. Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, Minister of Justice and Attorney General also lauded the contribution of the Faculty in providing world class legal practice in the country.

She saluted alumni of the Faculty, especially President John Evans Atta-Mills and Professor Akua Kuenyehia, who is the first Vice President of the International Criminal Court for lifting the banner of the Faculty high.

Professor Kofi Quarshigah, Dean of the Faculty stressed the need to introduce clinical training into the teaching of law and alternative Dispute Resolution. He pledged that the Faculty would aspire to build a reputation as an institution of choice for reputable African and other international legal scholars.

Prof. Quarshigah said it was to achieve such reputation that the Faculty was organising postgraduate programmes, such as LLM programme in International Human Rights and International Humanitarian, LLM Programme in Oil and Gas and a Master of Arts programme in Alternative Dispute Resolution law to serve the needs of the Ghanaian labour market. He advised legal practitioners to defend the cause of freedom and proceed in truth. 20 April 09