GBA demands power to punish own members

The Ghana Bar Association wants the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32) amended to take away the power to discipline its members from the General Legal Council.

The General Legal Council is the main regulatory body for the conduct and administration of legal education and profession in Ghana.

The serving Chief Justice is the Chairperson of the Council, and the Judicial Secretary is its Secretary together with other appointed members including the three senior-most Supreme Court Justices, the Attorney-General and her nominee, the President, Vice and Secretary of the Ghana Bar Association and the Ashanti Regional Bar President.

Section 18 of Act 32 demands that any complaint by a person relating to the conduct of a lawyer shall be referred to a Disciplinary Committee set up by the General Legal Council.

Following the suspension of renowned human rights lawyer, Francis Xavier-Sosu by the Council for three years for professional misconduct, there were calls questioning why GBA is not clothed with the powers to discipline its own members.

The Association appears to have gotten the concerns of its members and the general public as it calls for the amendment of Act 32 in a 5-page resolution passed at its 2017/2018 annual conference held in Sunyani in September.

“The GBA calls for the amendment of the Legal Profession Act to vest the Bar with the authority to discipline lawyers,” the statement mentioned as one of the matters affecting the legal profession.

The statement assured, “The Bar affirms its commitment to ensuring professional competence of our members with the continuous assessment of the Continuing Legal Education programmes and projects to be run by the Bar’s Continuing Legal Education Institute.”

The GBA also called for urgent reforms of Ghana’s criminal justice system, saying it is “outdated, criminal procedure rules generally, but particularly the rules relating to jury trials”.