Lawyer sues Chief Justice for unlawfully suspending his license

Kwame Fosu-Gyeabour, a legal practitioner of good standing, has filed a writ at the High Court challenging the decision of the General Legal Council to prevent him from having access to the courts to practice his trade as a lawyer.

In his Statement of Claim, Kwame Fosu-Gyeabour stated that on April 20, 2023, he was convicted and sentenced to suspension from practising as a lawyer from May 1, 2023, for twelve months by the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council.

According to the Plaintiff, even before he could be served or obtain a copy of the decision of the General Legal Council, the Council, on May 1, 2023, which was a public holiday, wrote a public notice containing the content of the Plaintiff’s sentences and released it on various social media platforms on May 2, 2023.

The General Legal Council, in their notice released to various social media platforms, banned the Plaintiff (Kwame Fosu-Gyeabour) from entering his law office when the decision of the General Legal Council on April 20, 2023, did not state so.

The Plaintiff also averred that on April 26, 2023, he filed an appeal against the decision of the Council to the Court of Appeal to have the decision of the Council set aside and subsequently filed a Motion on Notice for Stay of Execution and Suspension of his sentences on May 2, 2023, at the Court of Appeal, pending the determination of the appeal.

The Court of Appeal, on May 23, 2023, heard the Plaintiff’s Motion for Stay of Execution and granted the same by staying the sentence imposed on him, pending the determination of his appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Despite the stay granted by the Court of Appeal, the defendants failed to communicate the same to the public as they did communicate the Plaintiff’s suspension to the general public despite a request from the Plaintiff to the defendants.

The General Legal Council subsequently filed a Motion invoking the Supreme Court's supervisory authority to quash the Court of Appeal ruling dated May 2, 2023, staying or suspending the Plaintiff’s sentence pending the determination of the appeal.

It was revealed that the Supreme Court, in its ruling on February 7, 2024, dismissed the application by the defendants and by January 3, 2024, the Plaintiff paid all the dues and his solicitor’s license fees and had his solicitor’s license renewed by the Defendants as No. Egar01553/24.

The Plaintiff said that on February 16, 2024, the defendants, by a circular to all courts in Ghana on social media platforms, stated that the Plaintiff’s license has not been renewed for this year, 2024.

The circular purportedly nullified all orders the Plaintiff might have obtained in court for the year and directed all courts not to grant the Plaintiff an audience until further notice from the defendants.

He said he was not copied on the circular and was not served with the same but only obtained a copy from social media after his attention was drawn to it by clients and colleagues.

He indicated in the Statement of Claim that the Defendants have no power to nullify the orders of courts of competent jurisdiction and that their circular is unlawful, unfair, and capricious.

He is thus seeking a declaration that a circular issued by the Defendants, dated February 10, 2024, is false, unlawful, illegal, irregular, ultra vires, unfair, capricious, unconscionable, in breach of the rules of Natural Justice, unconstitutional, and therefore a nullity.

He is also calling for an order setting aside the said circular issued by the Defendants and a Perpetual Injunction restraining the Defendants, their agents, assigns, officers, or any persons authorized by them from preventing the Plaintiff from having access to the courts to practice his trade as a lawyer without due process or unlawfully interfering in any manner with the Plaintiff’s practice as a lawyer and operation of his law firm.