Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has called for negotiations to resolve the legal vacation dispute between the Ghana Bar Association and the Association of Judges and Magistrates, saying the matter should not be allowed to deteriorate into a public confrontation.
His comments follow the GBA’s appeal to Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie to ensure that judges observe established rules and traditions governing the legal vacation.
The dispute has become more pronounced after requests by lawyers seeking adjournments of ongoing cases until October were rejected.
Kpebu proposes compromise
Mr Kpebu said neither side should take an unnecessarily rigid position because the legal vacation is not expressly guaranteed as a legal right.
“I’m in the middle ground. Middle ground being that we should negotiate. We should try to find an amicable settlement,” he said in an interview.
He suggested that the GBA should engage directly with the Association of Judges and Magistrates to establish a uniform arrangement for lawyers appearing before judges sitting during the vacation.
Under one possible arrangement, lawyers could work for part of the roughly two and a half month vacation and take the remainder as a break.
Another option, he said, would be for lawyers to agree with individual judges to complete hearings within a concentrated period.
Avoid lawyers fighting separate battles
Mr Kpebu said the current position effectively leaves individual lawyers to negotiate separately with judges, a situation he believes could produce inconsistent outcomes.
“The Chief Justice’s explanation means that each lawyer should go and fight his own fight, but I know we have different fighting skills, different strengths,” he said.
He argued that an institutional agreement would reduce the pressure on individual lawyers and create greater certainty for litigants, judges and defence teams.
The issue has gained particular attention following the rejection of requests by lawyers for former National Signals Bureau Director General Kwabena Adu-Boahen and former NAFCO Chief Executive Hanan Abdul-Wahab.
Their lawyers, including Samuel Atta Akyea and former Attorney General Godfred Dame, had cited prior commitments during the legal vacation and sought adjournments until October.
Srem-Sai defends court position
Deputy Attorney General Dr Justice Srem-Sai has taken a different position, arguing that a lawyer’s primary responsibility is to the client and that the interests of litigants should not be subordinated to a lawyer’s desire for a break.
Mr Kpebu acknowledged that under the current interpretation, a vacation judge could continue proceedings even when defence counsel is unavailable.
“If you don’t, you, the accused person, do the cross examination,” he said, warning that failure to proceed could result in the witness being discharged and the prosecution moving to its next witness.
For Mr Kpebu, however, the underlying issue is not whether lawyers can obtain adjournments.
“Nobody is ever saying that a lawyer cannot get an adjournment. No, no, that’s not the main thing. But it’s about how we go about it,” he said.
He believes that negotiation between the professional bodies offers the cleaner route out of the legal vacation dispute.
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