Chief Justice launches code of conduct for judiciary

Page 24: Daily Graphic, January 29, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Georgina T. Wood, yesterday launched a Code of Conduct for judges, magistrates and employees of the Judicial Service of Ghana to set a standard for ethical behaviour in the judiciary.
The Code of Conduct is based on the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, which was developed by the Judicial Integrity Group, an informal gathering of chief justices and senior justices in Bangalore, India in 2001.
It outlines the values and principles that define the professional roles of judges, magistrates and employees and focuses on the practical application of those principles such as conflict of interest situations, the use of official information and public resources, receiving of gifts or benefits, among others.
At the launch, which was also used to inaugurate a provident scheme for workers of the Judicial Service, Mrs Wood said the vision to create a transparent and accountable judiciary could only be realised if the entire staff of the judicial service clearly understood that they were not above the law or immune from their obedience to the letter.
She reminded them that judicial accountability and independence underpinned public confidence in the Judicial Service, adding that a trustworthy and dependable judiciary was so critical to the success of any national anti-corruption strategy that it was believed that “judicial integrity must clearly be secured first, before other meaningful initiatives are pursued”.
According to her, corruption was one of the main obstacles to political stability, the rule of law, democratic governance and sustainable socio-economic development.
Mrs Wood said Ghanaians expected the judiciary to serve them with courage, transparency and integrity and was hopeful that with the publication of the codes, the conduct of the judiciary would inspire judicial probity among judges, magistrates and employees.
Mrs Wood gave the assurance that the Judicial Training Institute would organise and co-ordinate training on the code for all employees, judges and magistrates.
Touching on the provident fund, the Chief Justice said the main pension scheme from SSNIT did not meet the expectations of the average Ghanaian worker in the formal sector when they proceeded on retirement.
She, therefore, commended the JUSAG for the initiative to ensure that employees enjoyed a reasonably comfortable package when they went on retirement.
Mrs Wood appealed to other staff of the Judicial Service who had not yet joined the scheme to do so, since it would be to their benefit.
The President of JUSAG, Mr Adia Abdul-Latif, described retirement as nightmarish for the staff of the Judicial Service because the SSNIT pension was inadequate even for the basic necessities of life.
He said the provident fund was the insurance cover for all members who joined the scheme as the next of kin of members were entitled to GH¢1,000 on the demise of the member in addition to the full contribution and interest generated on their contribution.
He said since the scheme started in October, 2009, 500 members of staff representing 10 per cent, had joined.