The chief Justice nominee Justice Sophia Akuffo has rejected calls for the scrapping of the Ghana School of Law.
“I’m not one of those who subscribe to [calls that] Ghana School of Law be scrapped,” she told the Appointments Committee of Parliament Friday during her vetting.
According to her, the Ghana School of Law “is a professional training facility…where the theories learnt in classrooms are supposed to be taught from a more practical point of view.”
Touching on the controversial issue of lawyers advertising on social media, Justice Akuffo said she considers the act despicable.
“I am a 67-year-old woman and I believe that dignity at the bar is as important as dignity at the bench…the idea of lawyers touting themselves on Facebook is distasteful and aside that the law is clear and the law is against touting. Lawyers can have websites but the law doesn’t allow for advertising on social media,” Justice Akuffo told the committee.
Her comment comes in the wake of the suspension of popular Human Rights lawyer Francis Sosu for advertising on Facebook by the General Legal Council.
His suspension sparked a debate amongst a section of the public and some lawyers who argued that the law preventing legal practitioners from advertising was outmoded and needed to be repealed.
She also promised to leave a legacy that will ensure every Ghanaian feels secured to resort to the courts to settle disputes.
She said her utmost priority in terms of vision is to produce “quality judges” who will resort to technology to dispense justice to all.
“I’m sure people have been asking what my vision is, it is to ensure quality judges delivering quality justice with technology,” Justice Akuffo said during her vetting Friday, June 16, 2017 before the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
She promised to look into the working conditions of judges as she takes over the judiciary from her predecessor Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, who retired June 7, 2017.