President John Mahama
Prominent on the to-do-list of President John Mahama during his second term of office is the resetting of governance not the least, management of the judiciary.
With the removal of Justice Gertrude Torkornoo as Chief Justice and her subsequent replacement by Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, he has cause to smile and say ‘I have done it.’
It is the culmination of a journey about which he served notice during a gathering of the learned fraternity in Ho in the Volta Region while in opposition trenches.
The appointment of over a hundred judges to, as it were, balance the bench which was considered in some National Democratic Congress (NDC) circles New Patriotic Party (NPP)-inclined, satisfied one of the reset requirements.
Of course these developments have elicited academic and street conversations among Ghanaians. The bottom-line of such parleys has to do with whether or not the President’s action would impugn upon the quality of justice administration?
Some would have rather the status quo remained lest a precedent is created for replication by subsequent governments. ‘Tempora mutantur’, to wit ‘Time Will Tell’, the Romans of yore used to say.
Another development has been recorded which adds to the agenda plate. It is a novelty in the annals of the history of the bar in the country.
A rival legal practice registering body has been given the nod to operate. The freshly minted Ghana Law Society will share the authority to license lawyers with the Ghana Bar Association (GBA); a dream come true for the originators of the idea.
In a country where there is no dearth to the politicisation of everything, another subject has come up for debate in the unending NDC and NPP exchanges. Is the move intended to break the monopoly of the GBA as the sole licensor of lawyers in the country because it is suspected of leaning towards the NPP? Is it intended to satisfy the political whims of some persons?
It will be recalled that a group of lawyers last year contacted the current Chief Justice before his assumption of office about their intention to float a rival bar grouping, and information had it that he did not oppose the suggestion.
Now that he is Chief Justice and they have had their way, a monopoly has been broken and we live to see whether the dividends accruing to a duopoly would visit the law practice in the country or not.
With all facets of the administration of justice in the country now fully touched by the reset agenda, let us see how things go.
Now the unregistered lawyers from school would choose where to go for their registration: Ghana Bar Association or the Ghana Law Society.