Chief Justice Theodora Georgina Wood has warned Justices of the Supreme Court to dispense justice with personal and judiciary integrity.
Wood said the justices must rather spearhead the campaign against impunity, corruption and incompetence.
Addressing the 7th annual Chief Justice Forum in Accra, Wood told the justices that: “Without personal [and] judiciary integrity, nothing else works.”
“…It is not for nothing that the framers of our constitution included personal integrity as a key criteria for appointment to the Bench,” she pointed out.
“We really have no option, but to serve the people with integrity,” she emphasised, adding: “We have no right to shift blame or point accusing fingers at other individuals or institutions.”
She added: “More pertinently, we must be prepared to suffer the ultimate punishment if we are found guilty of any gross misconduct.”
Wood urged the justices to help rid the judiciary of things that dent the image of the Institution.
“The cycle of dishonesty, impunity, corruption and incompetence must be broken, and it falls on the judiciary as the frontline institution through justice delivery to lead in this direction.
“In truth these are not matters that should engage our attention, 57 years after independence, but the persistent lament is that all is not right,” she observed.
She said the constitution has within it, adequate measures meant to empower the work of justices and, therefore, urged the judges of the apex court to work with integrity, bearing that in mind.
“Further, judicial integrity is protected by insulating the judiciary from the pressures and influences of other governmental arms and bodies and hopefully, this is meant to ensure the independence of the judiciary.
“Equally important are the enshrined provisions relating to security of tenure of judges of the superior court and I would say to a large extent also the lower court, and their removal from office. These are constitutional guarantees to empower and embolden us to deliver justice with integrity. They are not intended to be deployed to keep us in office while we continue to misbehave and perpetuate injustice.”
