CJ Not At War With Parliament -Justice Acquah

A Supreme Court Judge, Justice George Acquah has cautioned media practitioners against making adverse pronouncements or publishing sensational stories particularly on the judiciary. Such adverse pronouncements could dent the image of the country's legal system.

Reacting to media reports that gave the impression that the Chief Justice (CJ), Mr. Justice E.K. Wiredu is at war with parliament over the ongoing public hearing on perceived corruption in the judiciary, he said there is absolutely no truth in the report.

What the CJ meant, he said, was that it would be appropriate for a Committee of Inquiry to be established to probe into perceived corruption in the judiciary.

He said, ".the Chief Justice is not at war with parliament and would like it (public hearing) to continue. We support the work of the Committee."

He said, "the judiciary would welcome the final report of the committee and would take action on anything that they would recommend."

Justice Acquah said the Judicial Council has also appointed a committee to probe into the issue of corruption in the judiciary and would work in collaboration with the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Judiciary.

He said while the judiciary welcomes the ongoing nationwide exercise by parliament, care should be taken so that the reputation of the judiciary is not tarnished.

"If care is not taken it could damage the reputation of the service but we support it fully," he said.

The Supreme Court judge said when the impression is created that you cannot have justice, the message to the public then is that people can take the law into their own hands.

Though he did not deny that there could be corruption in the judiciary, Justice Acquah said, "it is my view that some of the perceived corruption is due to ignorance of the way the judiciary works."

He said there is the need to review Ghana's justice system. He appealed to the public to refrain from attempting to bribe judges to win favours in a cases pending in the courts.

The hearing which was organised by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) in collaboration with the Judiciary Committee of Parliament, is to collate views of civil society on how to resolve the problems of the judiciary.

The Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Kwame Osei-Prempeh said corruption in the administration of justice whether real or perceived could impact negatively on the development of the country.

He said corruption denies the poor equal access to fair and impartial justice which usually results in "self-help and vigilantism to resolve disputes".

Mr. Osei-Prempeh said a corrupt judicial system deters investors. "It is also difficult for a country to attract and retain substantial levels of investment when there is a perception of widespread corruption in the judiciary."

During the open forum, a retired Supreme Court Judge and a former Attorney General, Justice Aikins said the only way corruption could be curbed in the judiciary is to improve the conditions of service of the judges and the staff.