Africa-Press – Ghana. Mr Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, the newly inaugurated Chief Justice, has reiterated the need for comprehensive reforms in Ghana’s legal education system.
“We also cannot ignore the call for reform in legal education. The future of the bar is the future of the bench. We must move from exclusion to inclusion, from rote learning to critical thinking and from credentialism to competence,” he stated.
Mr Baffoe-Bonnie said this on Monday, in his inaugural address as Chief Justice of Ghana at the Presidency in Accra.
Mr Baffoe-Bonnie, who was sworn into office by President John Dramani Mahama becomes the 16th Chief Justice of Ghana.
The inauguration is in line with Article 144 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
Prior to his inauguration, Mr Baffoe-Bonnie who is the most senior Supreme Court Justice, has been the Acting Chief Justice for the past seven months following the suspension and subsequent removal from office of Lady Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, based on the recommendations of the Justice Gabriel Pwamang Committee.
Mr Baffoe-Bonnie said working with the General Legal Council, the Ghana School of Law and the nation’s law faculties, they would pursue a model that ensured opportunity without compromising quality.
“Our goal is not merely to produce more lawyers but better lawyers who are disciplined, ethical and devoted to the cause of justice. Your Excellency today marks both continuity and renewal,” he said.
“Having served in an Acting capacity over the past seven months, I have seen the quiet strength of our judges and magistrates, the resilience of judicial service staff and the enduring faith of citizens who continue to look to the courts as a refuge for fairness.
“So starting here, Your Excellency, today, I humbly accept the warrant of office and the sacred mandate to serve as Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana.”
Mr Baffoe-Bonnie noted that, he was doing so in full consciousness of the trust imposed in the high office and its heavy responsibility.
The Chief Justice expressed his deepest gratitude to the President for appointing him to the high office.
“I accept this charge not for honour but for service to the constitution, to the law and to the people of Ghana. I pledge to discharge it faithfully, independently and with integrity,” he stated.
“Let us together ensure that the Ghanaian judiciary remains not a citadel of privilege but a sanctuary of hope where the poor and the powerful alike can find refuge in the impartial majesty of the law.”
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