General News of Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Source: Ghanaian Times

Laws must be simplified for the common man - Justice Akamba

A Supreme Court Judge, Justice Joseph Bawa Akamba, has urged lawyers and drafters of law to simplify their communication for ordinary people to understand and be responsive to the laws in the country.

He said understanding of basic provisions of the country’s laws remained unclear to the public because of how complex the wording were couched, and, therefore, advocate a more easy communication to avoid confusion, misunderstanding and disagreement on legal issues.

Justice Akamba made the call at the closing ceremony of the Eight Commonwealth Legislative Drafting Course at the Ghana School of Law, in Accra on Monday.

In all, 37 lawyers from member African countries belonging to the Commonwealth participated in the three-month course and graduated with certificate in Proficiency in Legislative Drafting.

Justice Akamba commended the participants for their commitment, and challenged them to work hard and impact their experience on their countries.

“As drafters of legislation, you play a key role in the democratic process and your work is meant to better the livelihood of society, therefore, ensure you couch words that ordinary people will understand and be responsive to,” he said.

The Director of the Ghana School of law, Mr. Kwasi Prempeh-Eck, tasked the participants to distinguish themselves in their career in their respective countries.

“It is my conviction that the training you have been given would enable you to distinguish yourselves in your career and make us proud in the coming years,” he stressed.

The participants, who were in high spirit, could not hide their joy and were hopeful that their training would benefit their respective countries.