Church service held to usher in legal year

Accra, Oct. 6, GNA - A special church service to usher in the new legal year and commemorate the Jubilee celebration of the judiciary in post-independence Ghana was on Saturday held at the Cathedral Church of the Most Trinity in Accra.

The new legal year is under the theme: "Access to Justice - Strengthening Judicial Integrity and Capacity through Judicial Education."

The church service brought together judges of the superior and lower courts, Mr Joe Ghartey, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Fisheries, Ms Gloria Akuffo, Minister of Aviation and past presidents of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi and Mr Solomon Kwame Tetteh.

Others in attendance were Nii Osah Mills, newly elected president of GBA, Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, a member of the Council of State, chiefs and new lawyers who were called to the Bar on Friday. In a sermon, the Right Reverend McLean Kumi, Head Pastor, Joint Church, Tema, said the theme chosen for the year was most appropriate because Biblically the Year of Jubilee restored hope for the oppressed and the economically marginalized in society. Right Rev. Kumi recalled how the late President Kwame Nkrumah led the nation to attain independence and his pronouncement that the nation was "free forever".

Right Rev. Kumi noted that some of the worst enemies of the nation at 50 years were ignorance, bribery and corruption, drug trafficking and urged members of the bench and bar to rise up against such acts. He also cited the upsurge of pornography, cyber fraud, human rights issues and environmental abuse as some of the challenges facing mankind. Right Rev. Kumi said as members of the bench and bar, they had been called by God and endorsed by the state and appealed to them to help in the fight against injustice since the nation was counting on them. Right Rev. Kumi reminded judges and lawyers of sacrifices of their predecessors who were killed or maimed over the years for standing for integrity.

"You should look at the effigies of these people who stood up at the peril of their lives and emulate them as integrity goes beyond good remuneration.

"To strengthen your integrity you need to call on God, for without God you cannot do anything."

He further asked judges and lawyers to be wary of affluent nations who may come with packages of assisting the country by way of influencing judges.

Right Rev. Kumi, reminding the judiciary of the need to dispense justice without fear or favour to all manner of persons, asked them not be influenced by the rich.

In a goodwill message, the Chief Justice Mrs Justice Georgina Wood urged members of the Judicial Service to re-dedicate themselves to upholding the rule of law and promote democracy and good governance.

"As a service delivery institution, we are fully aware that the demand on us as the guardians of the rule of law has not waned over time. Indeed, following pursuit of democratic governance in Ghana, an even greater burden has been placed on us to maintain a higher standard of efficiency.

"The good people of Ghana have become acutely aware of their rights and freedom as provided under the 1992 constitution." She said this year's legal service was a special one because it commemorated the jubilee year of the Judicial Service in post-independence Ghana.

According to the Chief Justice, jubilee signified hope, restoration and renewal adding, "we intend to expand the initiatives for change that have already begun within the judicial service". "Our collective and re-dedicated will to deliver equitable justice to all, fuelled by a passion for judicial integrity and hard work, should enable us to discharge our constitutional mandate without too much difficulty," Mrs Justice Wood said.