Attorney General proposes independent disciplinary framework for lawyers

The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has announced plans to introduce a Legal Practitioners’ Standards Board Bill to Cabinet and subsequently Parliament to establish an independent framework for disciplining legal practitioners.

According to Dr Ayine, the proposed legislation will provide for fair, independent and proportionate disciplinary processes within the legal profession, operating at arm’s length from his office and the government.

He made the announcement at the opening of the Eighth African Colloquium of Parliamentary Legal Counsel in Accra, held on the theme, “Ethics, Integrity and Legal Accountability”.

The colloquium brought together parliamentary legal practitioners and representatives from across Africa to discuss ethical standards, integrity and legal accountability within parliamentary institutions.

Dr Ayine said the proposed reform was based on the principle that professional independence must be accompanied by accountability.

“The demand for independence must be matched by responsibility,” he said, emphasising the need for strong professional standards and effective disciplinary mechanisms within the legal profession.

Drawing on his experience as a lawyer, Member of Parliament and Attorney General, Dr Ayine noted that legal practitioners working within parliamentary institutions operated in politically sensitive environments and must maintain their professional integrity regardless of the interests involved.

He said parliamentary legal counsel played a crucial role in ensuring that parliamentary business complied with constitutional requirements and that proposed legislation was properly drafted.

Their professional obligations, he added, required them to provide candid legal advice even when such advice was unpopular with political actors.

Dr Ayine stressed that parliamentary legal counsel must serve both Majority and Minority members impartially, irrespective of their political affiliations, because their ultimate responsibility was to Parliament and the law.

He also identified external influence as an emerging ethical concern, noting that legislative proposals increasingly originated from interest groups, development partners and commercial actors.

He urged parliamentary lawyers to identify and declare potential conflicts of interest to safeguard the integrity of the legislative process.

Majority Leader backs independence of parliamentary counsel

The Majority Leader, James Agalga, has defended the independence of parliamentary legal counsel, arguing that their rigorous scrutiny of government legislation strengthens public policy rather than undermining the Executive’s agenda.

Mr Agalga said independent legal advice was essential to ensuring that legislation arising from complex reforms, fiscal policies and bilateral investment treaties complied with constitutional requirements and could withstand judicial scrutiny.

“The notion that the executive and the legislative majority view independent parliamentary legal counsel with apprehension is wholly mistaken,” he said.

He explained that the national interest required parliamentary lawyers who could subject proposed legislation to rigorous technical scrutiny, identify constitutional vulnerabilities and recommend improvements to legislative language.

Such scrutiny, he said, could prevent procedural invalidation, unnecessary litigation and constitutional uncertainty while strengthening the legal foundation of government programmes.

“What the majority requires and what the national interest demands is parliamentary counsel capable of subjecting legislation to rigorous technical scrutiny, identifying constitutional vulnerabilities candidly, and improving legislative language so that it can withstand judicial scrutiny,” he said.

Mr Agalga stressed that parliamentary legal counsel owed their primary obligation to the law, the Constitution and the integrity of Parliament rather than to partisan political interests.