Afenyo-Markin’s attack on Circuit Court judge unethical, very unpalatable, unbecoming of a senior lawyer — GBA blasts
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has criticised comments made by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin against a Circuit Court judge presiding over the case involving the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC.
The Association described the remarks as unprofessional and unethical.
Speaking on the matter, GBA Spokesperson Saviour Kudze said the conduct of the Minority Leader, who is also a senior lawyer and a traditional leader, fell below the standards expected of a person of his stature within the legal profession.
“It is very unpalatable, unbecoming of a senior lawyer of his standing at the Bar, particularly so a senior lawyer who is privileged enough to be the Minority Leader of the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana, a lawyer who I am told is also a chief. Is this the kind of example he wants to give his constituents?” Mr Kudze stated.
His comments follow remarks made by Mr Afenyo-Markin during a press conference on Sunday, May 17, where he criticised the judge over the continued remand of Abronye DC and stated that he would continue to disrespect the judge until he “upholds the law.”
The Minority Leader also questioned the competence of the judge and challenged him to cite him for contempt.
Reacting to the issue, Mr Kudze said that if Mr Afenyo-Markin believed the judge had acted unlawfully, there were established legal procedures available to challenge the ruling instead of publicly attacking the judge.
“As a lawyer, if his complaint is that a judge has acted in a way according to him not within the ambit of the law, this is not the way I think that he should go, especially somebody like him,” he said.
“My thinking is that the appellate system is not there for fun. If the judge didn't act within his jurisdiction, he knew what to do. He shouldn't go to the press, not at all,” he added.
The GBA spokesperson further accused the Minority Leader of breaching professional ethics by publicly questioning the qualifications and competence of the judge.
“We are disappointed, and he has acted very unprofessionally and unethically because, per our etiquette rules, we don't do things like this by attacking the qualifications or competence of a judge,” Mr Kudze stated.