Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong has cautioned judges across the country to be blind to outside influences and internal idiosyncrasies in administering justice.
According to her, that was the only surest way to stand out in their chosen profession, noting that, the first and foremost duty of anyone exalted to the Bench is to give justice without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, as their oath taken before ascending to the bench asserts.
The justice minister sounded this caution at the swearing in ceremony of newly appointed Circuit Court Judges and Magistrates in Accra yesterday.
Mrs. Appiah-Oppong explained that for justice to be done between citizens or citizens and state institutions, a Judge must be diligent and impartial.
“A great deal of judicial decision-making involves a Judge having to choose between two or sometimes more reasonably acceptable alternatives. Sometimes you will have a stark choice to make, and if the verdict is to be acceptable to the litigants and nowadays, an ever vigilant and critical Ghanaian public and media will depend on the exertion of legal scholarship, evaluation of contesting evidence and integrity of the result, these are what will make it acceptable to all parties”, she opined.
Mrs Appiah-Oppong further, appealed to the new Circuit Court Judges and Magistrates, to note that though in the ecclesiastical order, it is said that their esteemed selves are next to God, “you are not gods – yet”.
She urged them to demonstrate courtesy and civility to lawyers, litigants, court officials, witnesses the general public, Police, Law students, Journalists, as well as other court users.
“You must be firm but fair, stern but not harsh and kind but not doting to the affections of bewildered users of the court who are sometimes lost in the labyrinth of legal rules jargons, processes and procedures in which a few Lawyers and Judges get lost themselves”, she added.
On his part, a Justice of the Ghana’s apex court, Justice Victor Jones Dotse reminded the newly appointed Circuit Court Judges and Magistrates of the well settled basic legal principles which they have to bear in mind as they commence their career development on the Bench.
According to Justice Dotse the Bench is not a place for timorous souls.
“Thus you must be bold, courageous and brave in whatever you do but make sure you pursue the truth at all time”, he warned.
He however, advised them to study their various Rules of Procedures very well.
In all 19 people were sworn in. The number comprised 12 Circuit Court Judges and seven (7) Magistrates.
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