Accra, March 13, GNA- Brilliant students from the Ghana School of Law would be assigned to Judges of the Supreme Court to assist in research into various aspects of cases before judgments are delivered. Mr. Justice Stephen Allan Brobbey, a Supreme Court Judge, who made this known in Accra on Thursday, said: "The numerous judgments produced by Judges will be checked for accuracy of citations and references. The services the judicial clerk will be required to perform include drafting of memoranda and court opinions, proof reading and verification of reference and citations."
The clerkship programme, now introduced in Ghana's judicial system, is practiced in the United State of America. In the US, lawyers engaged in the programme are the best graduates from the School of Law and students who possess high academic achievements coupled with recommendation by lecturers or employers. Fordham Law School, USA, is supporting the programme in Ghana in collaboration with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Judicial Service.
So far four students, including to two females, have been recruited to begin the clerkship programme.
Mr Justice Brobbey, however, said the students, who would be known as judicial clerks, were not glorified messengers of the judges. "The judicial clerk will be confined to purely judicial and official duties and responsibilities. Depending on how successful it takes off, it is intended to be extended to the remaining superior courts of justice in the Court of Appeal and High Courts." Mr Justice Brobbey cautioned against the leakage of information for a fee by the clerks.
He noted that the judiciary in the 1980s experimented a similar programme that could not be sustained as a result of number of reasons. The Supreme Court judge explained that the system could not work because some of the judges could not vouch for the confidentiality of the clerks and that they were also not prepared to take risks with new lawyers.
"We were not sure how far we could rely on the trust reposed in the clerks not to leak out information on judgment before they were read publicly," he said.
"A clerk who completes his engagement with no whisper of suspicion about his integrity and trust will be highly recommended for future engagement on the Bench and other areas of the law," Mr Justice Brobbey added.
He said a judicial clerk who would be found to be unreliable and untrustworthy for any reason whatsoever would forever lose out throughout his membership of the bar.
Mr Justice Brobbey therefore appealed to the clerks to give of their best to ensure the sustenance of the programme. Mr Justice S.K. Date-Baah, a judge of the Supreme Court, said one of the aims of the scheme was to improve on quality of justice in the country.
Dr Kofi Abotsi, Coordinator of the Clerkship Programme, said the scheme was necessary in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. He said under the programme, clerks would work for a year and based on excellent performance would be required to work for another year. Br Abotsi said the programme was a prestigious one and appealed to students to take the opportunity offered them. Professor Paolo Galazzi, Fordham Law School, USA, said his school had been offering training services for the Police and other human rights institutions in the country. Professor Galazzi said Ghana was chosen for its record of good governance and the rule of law. He appealed to the Judicial Service to network with other countries in respect of judgments delivered by the courts.
