Let’s take good care of the Bench

One of the misfortunes that has rocked the Judiciary in recent times is the 2015 Anas Aremeyaw expose which indicted over 33 High and Circuit Court judges and other judicial staff for their involvement in different kinds of corrupt practices in the discharge of  their duties.

It is the worst scandal recorded in judicial history since Ghana/Gold Coast subscribed to this form of adjudication based on the model of British law and jurisprudence.

In that episode, most of the judges who were found culpable were summarily dismissed, while a few challenged their indictment and are still challenging the modus operandi adopted by the ace investigator  to unearth those messy deals.

Almost two years after that incident, I am not sure any individual or groups of individuals have done a post-mortem to find out about the factors or circumstances that compelled those honourable men of the Bench to succumb to those temptations which had, to a large extent, crushed their otherwise noble calling. From my interaction with some honourable members of the Bench, as well as some workers of the Judicial Service of Ghana, I can say that all is not well with the service, contrary to what people perceive it to be.

Dispensing justice is one crucial undertaking that needs morally upright and incorruptible persons.

Powers of the executive

When one attempts to juxtapose the powers of the executive arm of government with the two other institutions, the legislature and judiciary, one would easily realise that the executive, headed by the President, is the most powerful under this system of government while the executive is clothed with all the powers of state, the judiciary is only empowered to interprete the laws and see to their enforcement. In exercising all these powers of state, the executive has vast control over the coercive forces of state — the police, armed forces, and other security agencies with the President and his team in the administration of the country.

Even though roles are not supposed to be the same under this system of government, the judiciary also has crucial duty to perform by ensuring that there is compliance of the laws of the state. Sadly, when an erring member of the judiciary commits a blunder, the repercussions are huge with very devastating consequences.

It is, therefore, in this light that the conditions under which these judges work must be made better and attractive in order to make them appreciate the enormity of their work.  

Under-funding of the Judiciary

There is no doubt that the judiciary is seriously under-resourced, based on the poor remuneration of judges, which includes poor accommodation, lack of supporting staff to assist them with research and other secretarial work in their offices and homes, among others.

These are some of the challenges judges face in the discharge of their duties.

On the contrary, their counterparts on the Executive, as well as the Legislature, have better conditions of service. Judges occupy very powerful positions in the society and they deal with cases that impact on the lives of various shades of people, with far-reaching consequences. No wonder they have threatened to embark on a strike if some outstanding money the government owes them is not paid.

Even though remuneration of most of the Article 71 office holders have not been made public, some snippets of information available indicates that a minister's basic pay was pegged at Gh¢10,000 cedis but some other allowances ranging from duty, entertainment to wardrobe allowances saw them earning up to GH¢22,000 per month.
In addition, state officials allegedly receive 45 gallons of fuel a week, fully furnished accommodation, a 4×4 cross country  vehicle a luxury saloon car, a cook, a gardener, a security guard and police escort.

This is in sharp contrast with what most judges receive at the end of the month even though they all belong to one of the arms of government.

It is common knowledge that judges are well-trained lawyers with rich legal brains and they, therefore, have to be accorded all the perks associated with their calling and be adequately resourced — commensurate with their academic credentials and social status — at least something comparable to that of members of the Executive and the Legislature.

It is, therefore, my humble wish that the Chief Justice (CJ) would do something about judges’ conditions of service and their emoluments. They should be made comfortable to enjoy the fruits of their labour. They should be catered for just like their counterparts in the United Kingdom, which explains why in the UK only the finest barristers are attracted to the Bench, where the best arguments are always heard.

Judges as board members

Judges, undoubtedly, are very knowledgeable, with high moral integrity, and, therefore, have to be given some special respect in the society.

It is my opinion that judges have to be mandatorily appointed to boards of public institutions, as well as private ones. Their membership on the boards will impact positively on the performance of those corporate and public institutions.

This is done in the UK as a way of assisting the judges to make some extra income for them to remain incorruptible in the discharge of their duties.

This position could be argued against by those who think it will have conflicting consequences. I, however, differ with that stand in that all that a judge on a board has to do is recluse himself/herself from cases that have to do with the companies or public institutions on whose boards he/she sits.

The work of judges entail a lot of commitment and sacrifice, so they have to be adequately taken care of as much as possible. Judges should be provided with research assistants and secretaries to support them with their work.

Expectation

My expectation is that, the challenges judges and other Judicial Service staff face in the discharge of their duties will be swiftly resolved so that they will be motivated enough to give their best because when the Judiciary gets compromised, society will definitely be the loser.

In the UK, the Queens Counsel serves as the recorder then after some years of practice becomes the deputy judge before he/she finally gets promoted to become a full judge. There you have the brilliant and experienced counsels taking up such positions. We can replicate same in Ghana when reforms are carried out.

It, therefore, behoves the Chief Justice to initiate some reforms in the judicial system, as well as push for the review of the remuneration and condition of service of judges to give them secured pension. If these reforms and reviews are vigorously pursued judges will work diligently without fear or favour in the dispensation of justice.