Three Lawyers To Be Stripped - CJ

THREE MEMBERS of the legal profession in the country are to face disciplinary action as they have been found culpable of misconduct in the course of executing their jobs.

The culprits would be stripped of their positions as lawyers because the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council has recommended the sanctions against them, having completed an intensive investigation conducted over the last two years.

The names of the indicted lawyers would soon be made public following an approval by the General Legal Council at the close of a meeting, held at the end of last month.

The chief justice (CJ) and chairman of the General Legal Council, Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu, disclosed this when 12 new lawyers, including two females, were called to the Bar during a mini swearing-in ceremony held in Accra, last Friday.

The disclosure of the names of the culprits, the first ever to be adopted by the General Legal Council, would bring to the fore the warning that the council does not shield members found guilty of misconduct in the course of executing their duties as lawyers.

The chief justice urged members of the legal profession to be circumspect and conduct their work in honesty and truth, in order to uphold the dignity of the profession at all times.

According to Justice Wiredu, lawyers should be law-abiding as society looks up to them in molding a community, free of chaos and confusion.

He stressed that lawyers encourage development and progress since their opinions carry weight in society.

He told the new lawyers that they were about to begin an endless process of educating themselves to acquire greater knowledge in the course of their duties in order to distinguish themselves in the legal profession, adding that members of the profession are always friends despite dissenting on issues that crop up.

The CJ further observed that, since the new lawyers, in one way or the other, were going to rise through the ranks of the profession in the discharge of their duties, depending on their capabilities, they should always remember the tenets of the profession: honesty and sympathy.

He urged them to be prepared to assist and work in the rural areas and deprived communities in the country.

Justice Wiredu also advised the new lawyers to acquaint themselves with the process of resolving disputes through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to enhance attempts at decreasing the multiple cases in court and to ensure peaceful settlement of disputes.