The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and the Association of Judges and Magistrates are locked in a protracted dispute concerning the observance of the legal vacation, a matter recently escalated by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie to Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner. Kpebu, speaking on Accra-based Citi FM, has voiced a strong call for amicable resolution, emphasizing that the legal vacation is not explicitly guaranteed by law. His intervention follows a formal appeal by the GBA to Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie to ensure judges uphold established rules and traditions governing the vacation. The dispute deepened following a rejection by the Chief Justice of a request from lawyers representing former National Signals Bureau (NSB) Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahen and former National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab to postpone their cases until after the vacation. These legal teams, comprised of former Attorney General Godfred Dame and Defence Minister Samuel Atta Akyea, had requested a postponement until October, citing a need for uninterrupted legal respite. Kpebu stated that the disagreement is not an isolated incident but reflects a broader challenge to the legal vacation’s arrangement, arguing that it should not be allowed to escalate into a public confrontation, particularly given the lack of a clear legal right to the vacation. He proposed a negotiated solution, suggesting that the GBA engage directly with the Association of Judges and Magistrates to establish a uniform arrangement for lawyers handling cases during the period. One potential solution involves allowing lawyers to work during part of the two-and-a-half-month vacation and taking the remaining time off. Alternatively, individual judges could agree with lawyers to complete hearings within a more concentrated timeframe. According to Kpebu, this arrangement would alleviate pressure on individual lawyers who would otherwise have to negotiate separately with different judges. Concerning the case involving Kwabena Adu-Boahen, Kpebu acknowledged that under the current legal interpretation, a judge sitting during the vacation could proceed with the case, but only if the accused person serves as the cross-examination witness. He stressed the importance of a thorough review of the legal implications, advocating for institutional dialogue rather than protracted public exchanges to address the disagreement. Kpebu maintained that the issue requires a collaborative approach, suggesting that a negotiation process would be more effective in resolving the impasse.
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Source: Adom Online
