Former president of the Ghana Bar Association and Supreme Court Judge Nominee, Mr Nene Amegatcher has admitted to claims that some Lawyers collect bribes from their clients and present to Judges in exchange for favourable rulings on cases.
Mr Nene Amegatcher, who is also the managing partner of Sam Okudzeto & Associates, said these lawyers “rip off” clients by “double billing” them and later give part of the returns to Judges responsible for that particular case.
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“We have heard about it. We have heard that some lawyers charge clients and they also tell the clients to bring some monies that they would give to judges. We are yet to identify any of the culprits at the bar. At a conference in Sunyani in 2017, the National Ghana Bar Association Executives realized that several cases were being brought by clients against lawyers and the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council was also imposing sanctions on these lawyers. It was thought that we should have a section to renew our lawyer’s knowledge of what is required of them to lessen these complaints,” he said.
Tackling the issue at hand, Mr Amegatcher further added that National Executives of the Ghana Bar Association are steadily monitoring the system as any counsel who falls prey to such complaints by clients will be dealt with accordingly.
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“We are still monitoring members of the profession, we haven’t left for people to do their own thing. The national executives are still monitoring and the moment we arrest any of the culprits, we will deal with them according to law,” he said.
Mr Nene Amegatcher
A member of the Ghana General Legal Council, Mr Nene Amegatcher is a former president of the Ghana Bar Association.
Mr Nene Amegatcher is the managing partner of Sam Okudzeto & Associates and has over 31 years of experience as a Barrister and Solicitor.
He has been a consultant to the World Bank on Administrative Law, Arbitration and ADR mechanisms under its Legal Sector Reform Project.
He is a former President of the Ghana Bar Association and lectures Advocacy and Legal Ethics at the Ghana School of Law.
He heads the litigation teams of Sam Okudzeto & Associates. His practice areas include Civil Litigation, Corporate and Commercial Law, Land and Labour, Constitutional Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution.
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Mr Amegatcher has since 1994 been the senior lecturer at the Ghana Law School where he has been teaching Advocacy and Legal Ethics as well as other ADR courses.
He was a chief examiner in law for the West African Examination Council between 1988 and 2004.
He taught Commercial Law and General Principles of English and Ghanaian Law at the Accra Polytechnic between 1980 and 1994.
He is a member of the Ghana Bar Association, American Bar Foundation, and American Bar Association, Ghana Arbitration Centre, Pupillage Committee of the Ghana Bar Association, International Bar Association, Board of Legal Aid Scheme, National Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force/Committee, American Arbitration Association and Board of Judicial Training Institute.