Don't Give Judicial Service Staff Money As gifts – CJ Caution Judges, Magistrates

The Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has warned judges and magistrates against giving monetary gifts to staff of the Judicial Service for their assistance in the line of duty.

According to her, the gesture fosters corruption and as such, must not be encouraged.

She therefore cautioned all judges and magistrates to restrict their show of appreciation to a verbal one.

She stressed that staff of the judicial service are salaried workers paid by the state and whatever help they lend to judges and magistrates should be considered as a statutory duty.

Madam Akuffo, while speaking at the 39th annual general meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana in Accra said, “Out of the sense of obligation, we are obliged to pay ‘thank you’ money to judicial service staff in the performance of their lawful duties. This practice has persisted for a while but I believe it is time for us to put a stop to it as it contributes to the culture of corruption.”

The Chief Justice further urged the all magistrates and judges to be deliberate about using technology in the discharge of their work to ensure efficiency.

She said her outfit has budgeted for some equipment to be brought in to aid the work of magistrates and judges with the aim of building a strong infrastructure to drive the technology agenda.

“We have budgeted for adequate numbers of equipment so let us all work together to deliberately build a strong infrastructure for what we want to do because the more we use technology the more we reduce the opportunities for delay,” she said.

---citinewsroom