Ghanaian lawyers in chains - IAPL cries to CJ

The International Association of People's Lawyers (IAPL) has petitioned the Parliament of Ghana, the Chief Justice and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), among others, over what the group describes as arbitrary treatment of lawyers in Ghana.

Embattled human rights lawyer, Francis-Xavier Sosu, who is battling the GBA over his suspension from law practice, presented the petition as part of the association’s events to mark International Day of Endangered Lawyers which fell on 24 January 2018.

Parts of the petition read: “...As we celebrate this year’s Endangered Lawyer’s Day, it is important to remind the legal fraternity in Ghana of the possible dangers that confront our legal practice. Many lawyers in Ghana grieve in silence and in fear to the detriment of an otherwise open and progressive legal system. Lawyers in Ghana are in chains and lack any form of legal protection from the Bar Association.

“The Ghana Bar Association, which is supposed to be the mouth piece of lawyers has turned itself into a dues collection agency. Young lawyers at the Bar do not have security of earnings and any serious guarantees of future career progression. Lawyers do not have any serious welfare system to come to their aid when they are in serious needs and problems.

“Regulation of Legal Education in Ghana and providing opportunities for LLB holders to become lawyers in Ghana by the General Legal Council is almost in total chaos and needs immediate attention. About some 3000 Ghanaian LLB students who are potential lawyers now look on with despair to what Parliament will do with the proposed Legal Profession Regulation (2017). The Ghana Bar Association should be speaking to these issues and providing leadership and possible stakeholder’s discussion to find permanent solution that will be in the public interest and in the interest of the profession.

“When it comes to discipline of lawyers, we have a Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council consisting of Court of Appeal, High Court and Supreme Court judges. When a decision is given by the Disciplinary Committee and a person is aggrieved, the lawyer would have to appeal to the Court of Appeal. Clearly to have a panel consisting of Supreme Court justices and later appear at the Court of Appeal, creates a serious potential denial of justice and fairness to Lawyers. It is my opinion that the composition of the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council essentially breaches the rules of fair trial which underpin Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.

“Since 1960, when the Legal Professions Act was passed into law to regulate discipline of lawyers, the General Legal Council has failed to prescribe and publish rules of procedure thereby continuously violating the fundamental rights to fair trial of all Lawyers who appear before them.



“Under the law, the General Legal Council has no power to suspend or withhold any lawyers’ licence because the only basis for suspending a lawyer is when the said lawyer has committed grave misconduct in a professional respect. What exactly amounts to ‘grave misconduct in a professional respect’ has not been defined by law".

The petition called on parliament and all the institutions concerned to immediately intervene to save legal practice in Ghana.