Be fair to all--Jugdes told

By Edmund Mingle
October 5, 2008

The 51st Legal Year opened last Saturday with a call on the Judiciary to be fair and give justice to all.

“Use your power of justice with wisdom and vision, and let your justice be a region of morality and peace,” the Most Reverend John Sentamu, Archbishop of York told members of the Judiciary at a special church service in Accra on Saturday to open the legal year.

The service, which had the theme, “Access to justice: consolidating judicial accountability and integrity,” was attended by the members of the Bench and Bar, the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, government officials and justices from South Africa.

Most Rev. Setanu, preaching the sermon, reminded the judiciary of the need to ensure high level of morality and equity in their dealings with society saying, “no one is neither above nor below the law.”

He said how they conducted themselves in the administration of justice largely depended in the values they believed in, and asked them to uphold the values of faith, trust, liberty, justice and allegiance to country.

“We reject these values at our own peril,” said Most Rev. Setanu, a former Justice of Uganda.

He reminded the judiciary of the need to an influence on society with the tenets of justice, and asked them to consider using the power entrusted to them for socio-economic development.

He prayed to God to grant the Judiciary the ability to perform its best at all times and prayed for a successful legal year.

As part of the service, officiated by Most Rev. Justice Ofei Akrofi, Primate and Anglican Archbishop of West Africa, prayers were offered for the nation, the President, the Chief Justice, the judiciary, and the Bar Association for God’s guidance through the legal year.

In her goodwill message, the Chief Justice Her Ladyship Justice Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood gave the assurance that the judiciary would deepen the country’s democratic values “through the pursuit of accountability and integrity enhancing initiatives.”

As the nation prepares for the December election, she recognized that “it has become increasingly clear that a truly impartial, independent and effective judiciary is a a sine qua non to national peace and stability.”

“In this 51st legal year, May God continue to grant us divine favour and endow us with knowledge, insight and understanding in our work, and may he keep us in peace and safety,” the Chief Justice prayed.