Name and shame judges -Judge

Accra, Oct. 12, GNA - An Appeals Court Judge on Monday called for more public education to enable people to come out publicly to officially lodge complaints of bribery and corruption on the bench for better delivery of justice.

Justice Benjamin Teiko Aryeetey told the Appointments Committee of Parliament that although there had been perceptions and allegations of corruption in the judiciary involving judges to influence the outcome of cases before them, it had been a challenge getting people to come forward to make formal complaints.

"There have been allegations but complainants do not come forward. People who say they know of a judge who is corrupt should come forward." Justice Aryeetey was responding to questions when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament to be vetted. He is one of three Court of Appeal Justices nominated to the Supreme Court.

The other two are Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo and Justice Nasiru Sulemana Gbadegbe. Should they sail through the parliamentary vetting process, the Supreme Court would have 14 judges to uphold justice at the highest level. Justice Aryeetey, who has worked on the bench for some 38 years, told the Committee that judges were doing their part to ensure that perceptions about bribery and corruption on the bench were done away with because they had a code of conduct to guide them in the delivery of justice.

"The notion of getting rich through the bench doesn't work," he said. In response to a question on what he understands by "activism judges" and their role in guiding the country's democracy, he said it was not just a matter of interpreting the law but also being pro-active in effecting changes in the judicial system as and when the need arose.

"When the need arises you will need people who would take the bull by the horns," he explained.

On a question of conflict of interest arising where members of parliament were appointed to serve on boards of public institutions, Justice Aryeetey said in such cases, the role and position of such members would have to be determined on case-by-case basis to see if there were grounds for conflict of interest.

When asked to give his position on setting an upper limit to the number of judges on the Supreme Court, Justice Aryeetey said as the nation grew there might be the need for more judges but for now 14 Supreme Court judges was an appropriate number.

In response to a question from Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, NPP Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, about the kind of serious work that the nominee was bringing to the Supreme Court considering that he had just two years to go on retirement, Justice Aryeetey said he was qualified to be appointed.

On the huge number of remand cases, congestion at the prisons and the need to decongest the prisons by allowing offenders to undertake community service in place of prison custody, he said these were matters that needed legislations to improve the justice system