Chief Justice praising government policies is problematic – Kwesi Pratt

Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr has questioned the appropriateness of Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie publicly commenting on the performance of government institutions and policies.

The Chief Justice, during his September 2 visit to MIIF, praised the institution’s performance and said developments at some state institutions had made him wonder what Ghana had been doing over the previous eight years.

His remarks have since attracted criticism from political and civil society actors, with concerns raised about their possible effect on perceptions of judicial neutrality.

The Judicial Service, however, said the comments were made in good faith and were not intended to undermine the independence of the Judiciary.

Reacting to this, Mr. Pratt said such comments could create doubts about the perceived impartiality of the Judiciary, particularly because the Chief Justice and other judges preside over cases involving the government and political actors.

“If a chief justice mounts a platform and praises a government for its policies and so on, it's problematic. Any chief justice, whether in the past or present, bans a platform and starts praising a certain government for its policies, the manner in which the policies are being implemented, and so on, is problematic,” he said on Accra-based Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana show on Wednesday, September 16.

Mr Pratt argued that the issue is particularly important because judges exercise judicial powers on behalf of the Ghanaian people and are expected to maintain public confidence in the fairness of the courts.

“If a Chief Justice is minded to protect a certain administration or certain persons within a certain administration, so that they can continue in office, his fairness is called into question, or her fairness is called into question,” he said.

He acknowledged that judges, like other citizens, have personal political preferences and participate in elections, but argued that such preferences should not be publicly expressed in ways that could affect perceptions of their judicial responsibilities.