“Your enrolment certificate is only being leased to you and could be withdrawn by striking your name off the roll of lawyers, if your conduct falls short of the expectation provided under the Code of Ethics and other relevant legislation on the legal profession,” she warned.

 

Speaking at a ceremony in Accra yesterday during which 38 new lawyers were called to the bar,  Justice Wood observed with regret that the values of the profession had been called into question in recent times, adding that “I am happy to have presided over your call to the Bar; I would hate to preside over your disbarment”. 

 

Integrity is key to success

 

The Chief justice pointed out that for a good number of practitioners in the contemporary world, integrity had become difficult to uphold because the benefits of dishonesty were often so immediate, immense and alluring, although integrity was key to success.

 

“While those who shun the path of integrity reap the benefits of their corrupt conduct almost readily, in contrast, the dividends of integrity are slow in coming and sometimes difficult to see,” she said, emphasising, however, that “this price is worth every sweat, every sacrifice, and every deprivation of personal comfort or advantage”.

 

She, therefore, entreated practitioners to make integrity their hallmark and in all things, seek to further the cause of justice.

 

“Uphold the highest ethical standards of professional conduct, eschewing greed and avarice which, in reality, lies at the heart of many of the problems bedeviling our country,” she urged.

 

 Justice Wood reminded lawyers that their primary responsibility lay in helping to shape the future direction of jurisprudence, the bar and society at large.

 

Achieving excellence, she said, was therefore predicated upon hard work, commitment and dedication.

 

She said a common complaint against members of the profession was the growing lack of the time-honoured and cherished value of civility in and out of the courtroom.

 

Lack of civility

 

“The adversarial litigation system practised in our jurisdiction has led many unwise practitioners to think that obnoxious conduct is the mark of a smart lawyer. But, being passionate about defending your clients cannot remotely justify aggression or lack of civility,” the Chief Justice stressed.

 

She said development could not be achieved without the appropriate legal and justice institutions and stressed the need for the modest gains made so far to be solidified in order to secure a credible legal system for the country.

 

She reminded legal practitioners of their primary duty of assisting in the proper administration of justice, pointing out that it was a duty born out of trust which must not be taken for granted.

 

Justice Wood reminded the new lawyers that the understanding of the public was that they were willing and freely offering themselves to the service of the public, the profession, the client and the court.

 

That, she said, placed an onerous responsibility on them to demonstrate uprightness and decency in both private and professional life. 

 

Their calling, she concluded, was not “a licence for arrogance and disrespect”.