The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, has nominated three individuals to serve on the General Legal Council.
The nominations were made in accordance with Section 1(2) of the Legal Profession Act, 1960, and Paragraph 2(1)(d) of the First Schedule to the Act which mandates the Minister to nominate three persons:
(1) Subject to this paragraph, the Council shall consist of a chairman, a deputy chairman and—
(a) the two most senior Judges of the Supreme Court after the chairman and the deputy
chairman referred to in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph;
(b) the Attorney-General;
(c) the Head of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana;
(d) three persons nominated by the Minister;
(e) four members of the Bar elected by the Ghana Bar Association. [As Substituted by
the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 1964 (Act 226) s. 3
This was contained in a statement issued by the office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice.
The statement announced the selection of Francis Xavier Sosu, Member of Parliament for Madina, Clara Beeri Kasser-Tee, a lecturer at the University of Ghana School of Law, and Dr. Abdul-Bassit Aziz Bamba, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana.
Francis Xavier Sosu’s nomination is particularly interesting because he was convicted on his own plea of professional misconduct and suspended from legal practice for a three year period – the 2nd day of June, 2017 and ending on 1st day of June, 2020. The offences were touting, personal advertisement and a charge of over estimation of legal fees.
He challenged the decision – particularly the severity of the sentence – on technical grounds at the Court of Appeal before a single justice and subsequently before the full bench and lost both cases. In the second case before the full bench is was held that the General Legal Council was a quasi-court/tribunal as per Section 11 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459) and accordingly, Mr Sosu ought to have filed his Notices of Appeal at the Registry of the General Legal Council. Having failed to do so, the court was bereft of jurisdiction.
Mr. Sosu brought a special leave application to the Supreme Court on the strength of article 131(2) of the Constitution, 1992; Section 4(5) of the Courts Act [Act 459/93] and Rule 7(4) of the Supreme Court Rules, 1996 [C.I. 16] arguing for an opportunity to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision in the Supreme Court.
Mr Sosu indicated to the Supreme Court that the General Legal Council had no registry for filing appeals – and that he had made attempts to file a notice of appeal fruitlessly, addint that officials at the General Legal Council directed him back to the Court of Appeal. It is intriguing to note that this material deposition was not denied by Counsel for the General Legal Council.
Justice Yaw Appau, speaking for the Court cast serious doubt on the assertion that the General Legal Council was a “court of competent jurisdiction” and acceded to Mr. Sosu’s request for special leave. Media reports thereafter indicated that the convictions were quashed on a judicial review application made successfully at the High Court.
It is expected that Mr Sosu, having been through the disciplinary process himself, and having challenged the Council as an aggrieved appellant, possesses unique insider knowledge of the system’s weaknesses and strengths and may identify areas for reform. He must draw on his own experiences to advocate for reasonable punishment and draw much more attention to the work being done by the Council.
The three individuals have been chosen to contribute their expertise to the Council, which plays a crucial role in overseeing legal education and professional conduct in the country.
The statement further indicated that President John Mahama has been duly informed of the nominations.
Superlawgh.com
