Linda Akrasi Kotey
4 June 2008
Parliament has unanimously approved the report of the Appointments Committee on the President's nominations for appointment to the Supreme Court. The chairman of the Appointments Committee, Freddy Blay in moving the motion said no adverse reports, petitions or objections were received on any of the nominees.
He noted that all the nominees had the requisite qualifications and experience to be appointed to the high office of Justices of the Supreme Court.
The report said certain pertinent questions were posed to the nominees, for which they gave various answers to. Central among them were the public perception and reality of corruption within the Judiciary.
It said all four nominees acquitted themselves creditably and actually proved their competence, capability and knowledge of occupying the positions to which they have been nominated.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie told the Committee that even though he subscribed to the decongestion of the prisons, long-term sentences given to Attaa Ayi and his accomplices was necessary to deter other armed robbers.
The nominee also told the Committee that in the case of Attaa Ayi, he took judicial notice of public concern over the spread of violent armed robbery cases in the country. He therefore delivered a harsh sentence to keep the convicts away from the society for a long while.
The nominee disagreed with the perception that he was too young to be nominated for the Supreme Court. According to him, his experience on the Bench and a little over a year and a half at the Appeals Court, does not make his age of ascending to the Supreme Court a peculiar one.
Giving instances, he mentioned Justice Sophia Akuffo who rose to the Supreme Court before age 48 and Justice Azu Crabbe who was appointed to the Supreme Court right from High Court.
The nominee contended that with the prevailing circumstance, he was not too young to be nominated and appointed to the Supreme Court.
As regards the perception of corruption within the Judiciary, the nominee indicated that the perception has moved to the realm of reality. In his view,, however, this image about the Judiciary appears to have been exaggerated.
Justice Dotse told the Committee he does not subscribe to the imposition of Capital Punishment on convicts and will therefore advocate for its abolishment.
He further explained that some innocent persons who have suffered from the death penalty only turn out to be exonerated later.
The report observed that the Committee had carefully examined the eligibility of the nominees for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court and were forthright in their answers to questions put to them and demonstrated confidence and good knowledge of the law and on relevant national issues.
They are Mr. Justice J. Dotse, Mr. Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Mr. Justice Anin-Yeboah and Ms. Justice R. C. Owusu.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Ghanaian Chronicle. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
