Lawyers defies GBA

Accra, April 12, GNA - Some lawyers have started attending the new Saturday Court in spite of the initial threats by the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) to boycott the process because they claimed the Chief Justice (CJ) had not consulted them on the issue. The Saturday court was introduce by the CJ to handle special cases including juvenile, domestic violence and financial claims. It was also expected to help clear the backlog cases in the courts as well as to grant bail to people who may be detained unlawfully beyond the forty-eight hours required by the law.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the District and Magistrates' court in Accra, which doubles as the Saturday court, showed normal activities going on at the place. Mr Abdullah Iddrisu, Acting Judicial Secretary, speaking to the press denied claims by the media that many lawyers had boycotted the process because it would put pressure on them. "We are not aware whether there is any boycott from the lawyers," he added. He said those lawyers who were asked to appear in court to pursue their cases did so. He said 20 cases appeared on this Saturday's sitting and expressed the hope that more cases would be dealt with in the coming weeks. He said since the introduction of the court, many employers who have not been paying the Social Security contributions of their employees started honouring their claims.

Meanwhile, an Accra Circuit Court has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Mr Dyson Teye Jumpah, Managing Director (MD) of E.E.M.C. Limited for owing Gh 6259.75 as Social Security contributions of his employees. Mr Stephen Mensah, MD of M & A Engineering Limited has been granted bail by same court. He was arrested when he defaulted in the payment of SSNIT contributions of his employees.