Lawyers Need To Go To Court On Saturdays

The President of the Ghana Bar Association, Mr. Neil Samuels has stated that lawyers have an obligation to represent their clients in court regardless of the days the cases are called. He was reacting to concerns raised by the Greater Accra Regional branch of the association over the proposed Saturday court sittings. The Greater Accra branch of the association said it was not happy with the Saturday court sittings especially given the fact that members of the association were not consulted. The Chief Justice, Mrs, Georgina Theodora Wood initiated the Saturday court system to dispense quick justice and clear the backlog of cases in the country’s courts. The problem of backlog of cases is a concern to justice administrators in the country. This informed the CJ’s decision to initiate the process which starts on Saturday, April 5, 2008. But the Greater Accra branch of the GBA said that the problem will not necessarily be solved by the Saturday sittings of courts. The branch president, Mr. Frank Davis told Joy News that if the association had been consulted it would have made inputs that would have informed the CJ’s decision as to whether the courts should sit on Saturdays or not. He said it was not fair to expect lawyers to forfeit their social responsibilities and go to court on Saturdays. But the national president of the GBA says the CJ has a mandate to take initiatives that she thinks will enhance the justice delivery system in the country. He wondered how the GBA could have been consulted. According to him the proposed dialogue between the CJ and members of the GBA was the right thing to do.