The Judicial Secretary of the Judicial Service of Ghana who also doubled as the Secretary to the General Legal Council, Mr Justice Alex B. Poku-Acheampong has been cited for contempt.
The General Legal Council on July 26, 2017 has impose a four year ban on Lawyer Kwesi Afrifa on two counts of representing a brother of his former client against that former client in court after close to 10 years.
Though, Lawyer Afrifa filed a Notice of Appeal at the General Legal Council and Stay of Execution/Suspending the decision of the Disciplinary Committee at the Court on the very day the 4 year sentence was imposed on him, the GLC has went against their own rules and published the ban placed on the lawyer.
The Judicial Secretary has also gone ahead and written letter to all Court in Ghana not to entertain Lawyer Kwesi Afrifa.
According to Lawyer Afrifa, the action of the GLC and the Judicial Secretary while his Notice of Appeal was duly received is in violation of section 21 and 22 of the Legal Professions Act 1960.
[ads1]He noted that the letter by the Judicial Secretary of Ghana is completely unsuitable and without any legal basis whatsoever in the face of the provision of section 21 and 22 of the Legal Profession Act 1960. He added that the letter showed that the Judicial Secretary has personally disregarded the rules set out by the statute, in relation to Appeals from the decisions of the General Legal Council.
He has since issued a writ praying the court “for an order committing the Respondent [Justice Alex Poku-Acheampong] for contempt of Court and for bringing the administration of justice to into irreparable disrepute by his deliberate conduct in prejudicing the determination, adjudication, and outcome of an Appeal by the Applicant lawyer which is pending before the court of Appeal”
The case has been filed on September 6, 2017
Source: AwakeAfrica.com | Efo Korsi Senyo | senyo@awakeafrica.com
