A corrupt judge is worse than an armed robber - Justice Mensah

Tamale, July 28, GNA – Justice Lawrence L. Mensah, Supervising High Court Judge of Tamale, has declared that a corrupt judge is worse than an armed robber.

“While the armed robber takes his ugly weapon to terrorize innocent people, the corrupt judge uses his uncontrolled propensity to steal under the table and thereby robbing a litigant of his verdict. Too bad,” he stated in a document made available to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday.

Justice Mensah, who was speaking at a public lecture at Tamale to mark the 11th Constitution Week celebration noted: “In as much as the citizenry cannot engage in an exercise of vulgarization of the judiciary, in the same way, judges and magistrates should not allow this critical national treasurer to be undermined by either grand or petty corruption whether perceived or real.”

He noted that a corrupt judge was an anathema to God and society as judges were literally representatives of God on earth occupying the office of sanctity and purity.

“Indeed all judges are going to appear before the ultimate Judge to give account of our duties as judges,” he added.

He quoted 2 Chronicles 19: 5 to 7 to support his argument. The text says ; “He appointed judges in the land in the fortified cities of Judah. He told them, consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man, but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict.

“Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

Justice Mensah noted that judges were under divine mandate not to pervert justice or show partiality. ”Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous; follow justice and justice alone.”

He said judicial accountability also enjoined the judiciary to be accountable to the public as justice emanated from the people, therefore legitimate public criticism of judicial performance was a means of ensuring accountability.

“Indeed if the judiciary is not criticized constructively, like any other public institution, it will turn into a cesspit of corruption, incompetence, protracted delays of cases, lethargy, apathy and the bane of the basic tenets of democratic values. “

Justice Mensah, however, cautioned the public and officialdom to be circumspect in their criticism and bashing of the judiciary saying, ”this is because any unbridled and unjustified lambasting of the judiciary will erode public confidence in the judiciary which is the cornerstone of democracy and good governance”.

Speaking on the topic: “Judiciary and the Judicial System in Ghana,” Justice Mensah said the courts did not operate mechanically, as judges were guided and controlled by substantive laws such as the Constitution, acts of parliament, rules and regulations, international conventions and treaties adopted as municipal laws.

He said there were also elaborate rules of court in civil and criminal matters for all the hierarchy of the courts – District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court rules and criminal procedure rules for criminal cases.

He attributed the complexities of the rules of procedure, which was an unfamiliar territory to the layman, as the reason for the misplaced and unbridled criticism of the courts.

Justice Mensah also revealed that sometimes the inadequacies, omissions or commissions of a lawyer could make a huge difference in a case “if the lawyer who lost the case is not sincere to explain the procedure to the clients, he/she will heap the blame on the innocent judge”.

He also distinguished between the judiciary and the judicial service, noting that the judicial service comprised the administrative staff, the finance, personnel, registrars, bailiffs, court clerks and interpreters among others, while the judiciary was that branch of government consisting of all the judges in the country's court of law and was responsible for interpreting the laws and administering justice.

Justice Mensah said the role of the judiciary in national development included the promotion of good governance, promoting international investment and rapid economic development, upholding and protecting fundamental human rights of the citizenry and putting the executive on its toes.

He explained that the judiciary did not belong to judges and magistrates, but was a creation of the Constitution and a crucial institution on which the success or failure of the constitutional dispensation depended.

The tradition of celebrating the Constitution Week started in 2001 by the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) to annually dedicate a month for the observance of Constitution Week.

The aims of the celebration are to emphasise citizens' responsibilities for protecting and defending the Constitution; preserving it for posterity; informing the people that the Constitution is the basis for Ghana's great heritage and the foundation for the way of life; and to encourage the study of the Constitution.

The month-long programme of activities is being organised by the NCCE with support from democratic stakeholders including Governance Africa Foundation, which has donated quantities of the Pocket Size copies of the 1992 Constitution for the celebration.

GNA