Justice Lovelace-Johnson slams Atuguba over research on judges’ political leanings

Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, a justice designate to the Supreme Court of Ghana, has taken a swipe at Professor Raymond Akongburo Atuguba, the Dean of the School of Law, University of Ghana, Legon over his research which seeks to establish that judgements by justices of the court are influenced their political leanings.

The learned professor’s research indicated that voting pattern amongst justices of the apex court have mostly been influenced by the political administration which appointed them.

At GIMPA Law Conference last year, Prof Atuguba explained to the gathering, among whom were supreme court judges, that from about one hundred cases in Ghana analysed, he realised that voting patterns of the bench mostly favoured the parties which appointed them.

He stated this during his presentation: “It is not a coincidence that this happened...and it will soon be discovered by the general populace and it may be too late then to gain public trust and respect for the court. The time to act is now".

These findings however scraped nerves and angered the justices of the supreme court including Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, who on Monday morning told the parliamentary vetting committee that as a judge, she has not had that experience the learned professor was talking about.

“I am a judge, I sit in it so you should take my word rather than Prof. Atuguba’s word. I am sitting in it, it is not true. I have given my judgement. Whoever put me in the position does not matter in the least. I apply the law, I do what is right in accordance with law,” she told the vetting committee, attracting some murmuring from the audience.

She explained that the judges' decisions must not necessarily conform to public opinion.

“So, it might not sit well with the person but it may be in accordance with the law. Sometimes someone may see clearly that someone is guilty of an offence, the law says if someone is charged with murder and they even say, ‘I’m guilty’ you are supposed to enter not guilty, that is the law,” Justice Lovelace-Johnson said.

She explained that judges only apply the laws made for them by the legislative arm of government.

“I don’t know where Prof Atuguba got his research from. It is not true in my experience,” she stressed.