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The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has backed the directive by the Chief Justice, CJ, for trial judges to call cases of senior lawyers before that of junior lawyers.

Saviour Kudze, the Public Relations Officer, PRO, in an interview with JoyNews, said the CJ's directive is in the right direction; indicating that, it will offer young or junior lawyers the opportunity to learn from their seniors.

He noted, “there are instances where directives are given for certain cases to be heard expeditiously; it doesn’t matter whether it is a senior who is conducting the case or a junior who is conducting the case.”

The GBA called on legal practitioners to strive to cooperate with the directive by the Chief Justice.

“There is a lot to learn at the Court. As a lawyer, reading alone doesn’t bring you up, it doesn’t develop you. How do you even frame your cross-examination questions, the sequence of questions and when you should even end.

“You will not read it anywhere unless you listen to it in court. So, I think the Chief Justice’s notice is in the right direction,” Saviour Kudze stressed.

Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, directed trial judges to adhere strictly to the age-long tradition of calling cases of senior lawyers first.

He explained, “the legal profession, as we know, is steeped in traditions and ceremonies. One of the traditions observed is the practice of calling persons whose names are on the roll of lawyers, in order of seniority or enrolment, notwithstanding the notion of equality at the Bar.

“It has recently been drawn to my attention, that some Trial Court Judges are not observing this practice in court."

“Whilst the right to call a case out of turn is not absolute and is exercisable subject to the convenience of the court, for the reasons mentioned above, I would request all Trial Court Judges to strictly adhere to this age-old tradition and resort to inviting applications from Seniors first,” the Chief Justice directed.