Lawyers Cannot Decide When Courts Should Sit – Dr Justice Srem-Sai

The Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, has clarified that Ghana’s legal vacation should not be interpreted as a period during which lawyers can unilaterally decide whether court proceedings should continue.

According to him, the legal vacation, which runs from August 1 to September 30 each year, is intended to significantly reduce the workload of the superior courts but does not amount to a complete shutdown of the judiciary.

Dr Srem-Sai explained that the period represents a traditional reduction in judicial activity rather than a suspension of the operations of the courts.

His comments come after a letter from the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) to the Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, urging him to ensure that judges respect what the association described as established traditions governing the legal vacation.

The GBA has raised concerns about lawyers being directed to appear in court during the vacation period despite informing the courts that they would be unavailable.

The association argued that Vacation Courts were traditionally established to deal with urgent and interlocutory matters and were not intended to conduct trials.

The GBA further maintained that where a lawyer has indicated an inability to appear during the legal vacation, the affected matter should be adjourned instead of proceeding in the lawyer’s absence.

Dr Srem-Sai, however, disagreed with the interpretation that the legal vacation amounts to a holiday for lawyers or a period when court activities must come to a halt.

He stressed that the legal vacation is not a lawyers’ vacation and that the courts remain operational throughout the period.

He explained that the Chief Justice determines which judges will sit during the legal vacation by issuing warrants authorising them to perform judicial duties during the period.

“The key point here, however, is that the courts scale down on work significantly – they do not shut down,” Dr Srem-Sai said.

He explained that the scope of proceedings a Vacation Judge may handle depends on whether the case originates from the judge’s own court or from another judge’s court.

According to him, a Vacation Judge may hear both interlocutory and substantive proceedings in cases that originated from the Vacation Judge’s own court.

However, where a case originates from the court of another judge, the Vacation Judge may generally be limited to dealing with interlocutory matters.

Dr Srem-Sai said this distinction is important because the substantive judge assigned to a particular case remains the judge responsible for ultimately determining the matter.

He maintained that the existing arrangement is intended to strike a balance between reducing the workload of the superior courts and ensuring that the administration of justice continues without unnecessary interruption.

The Deputy Attorney-General also noted that the arrangement allows judges to take their own vacation periods at appropriate times while ensuring that the courts retain sufficient capacity to deal with matters that require judicial attention.

The clarification comes amid the ongoing discussion between the Ghana Bar Association and the judiciary over how court proceedings should be managed during the legal vacation.

Source:myjoyonline