Judiciary comment: Your call on Mahama misplaced - NDC to Justice Douse

The opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) has described the call by Justice Isaac Douse, a retired Justice of the Court of Appeal on former president John Mahama not to drag the image of the Supreme Court in the mud as misplaced.

Mr Mahama speaking at the NDC’s lawyers conference Sunday said a new Chief Justice is required to repair what he described as the broke image of the judiciary in Ghana.

He stressed the current leadership of the judiciary does not have what it takes to repair the image of the judiciary.

But Justice Douse reacting to Mr. Mahama’s comment against the judiciary in a radio interview cautioned Mr Mahama not to drag the image of the Supreme court in the mud because such an act can be a threat to the country’s democracy and will not only affect the apex court but every Ghanaian as well.

However, the NDC in a statement signed by General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said it finds the sentiments expressed by the retired Jurist not only untenable but also unfounded.

According to the party “there is sufficient evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, available to prove that citizens’ trust in the judiciary which also includes the Supreme Court is on a gradual decline. This phenomenon cannot be blamed on anyone else but the judiciary itself.”

“We wish to refer Justice Douse to the findings of the recently published Afrobarometer report by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) which revealed that citizens’ trust in the judiciary has declined by 21 percentage points from 57 percent in 2012 to 36 percent in 2022. The 2020 Mo Ibrahim Governance Index made similar observations. This, in our view, is what should be a source of worry to Justice Dotse and people who reason like him and not the caution from former President Mahama who is merely re-echoing the general sentiments of Ghanaians about the judiciary. The outburst of the learned justice makes us wonder if he was in Ghana during the 2020 Presidential election petition hearings where the Supreme Court became a subject of mockery as ‘Unanimous SC’ due to its predictability with respect to its decisions,” the statement added.

Below is the full statement

Dragging Supreme Court in the mud threat to democracy – Rejoinder

Our attention has been drawn to media publications with the above subject attributed to Justice Isaac Douse, a retired Justice of the Court of Appeal, in response to a rather harmless opinion expressed by former president John Mahama on the gradual erosion of citizens’ trust in Ghana’s Judiciary’.

We wish to state in unambiguous terms that while we recognize Justice Douse’s right to free expression, we have fundamental disagreements with him as we find his sentiments not only untenable but also unfounded.

First and foremost, the so-called caution to H.E. John Mahama not to ‘drag the image of the Supreme Court in the mud’, in our view, is completely misplaced. There is sufficient evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, available to prove that citizens’ trust in the judiciary which also includes the Supreme Court is on a gradual decline. This phenomenon cannot be blamed on anyone else but the judiciary itself.

We wish to refer Justice Douse to the findings of the recently published Afrobarometer report by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) which revealed that citizens’ trust in the judiciary has declined by 21 percentage points from 57 percent in 2012 to 36 percent in 2022. The 2020 Mo Ibrahim Governance Index made similar observations.

This, in our view, is what should be a source of worry to Justice Douse and people who reason like him and not the caution from former President Mahama who is merely re-echoing the general sentiments of Ghanaians about the judiciary. The outburst of the learned justice makes us wonder if he was in Ghana during the 2020 Presidential election petition hearings where the Supreme Court became a subject of mockery as ‘Unanimous SC’ due to its predictability with respect to its decisions.

Is Justice Douse observing how the president continues to pack our courts with partisan judges? As an experienced jurist, does he fully appreciate the implications of such acts on justice delivery and for that matter the image of the judiciary and its independence? If so, has he made any comments about it? It is not for nothing that Lord Hewart, the then Lord Chief Justice of England in his dictum in the case of Rex v. Sussex Justices said that “Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done”. This statement draws our attention to the fact that public perception about justice delivery matters a lot in justice delivery.

The importance of the judiciary in Ghana’s democracy cannot be overemphasized. It is the only institution that citizens turn to for redress to their grievances. It is for this reason that its independence and impartiality is critical to engender citizens’ trust and confidence in the institution. However, when the president systematically packs the courts with partisan judges, and these judges appear to be doing the bidding of the Executive, as we have seen in recent years, it creates doubts in the minds of the public as regards fairness and impartiality of the judiciary. Such happenings completely undermine the doctrine of separation of powers with its inherent checks and balances. The result is that both citizens and the investor community lose trust in the judiciary and therefore resort to other unorthodox means to process their grievances. This is precisely what the National Security Strategy document observed as a threat to Ghana’s security hence its caution to the judiciary to reform.

We wish to place on record that, like all other citizens, I-I.E. John Mahama has every right to comment on national issues including critiquing the decisions of the courts and the eroding trust in our judiciary. Our 1992 Constitution states in article 125 (1) that “Justice emanates from the people and shall be administered in the name of the Republic by the Judicial)• which shall be independent and subject to this constitution. In the performance of its functions, the judiciary is not above criticism”. In fact, criticism of state institutions is part and parcel of our democratic practice. We criticize the executive and parliament so why do people think that the judiciary is above criticism? It is trite practice that judgments of courts of competent jurisdiction are subject to critique. Therefore, citizens reserve the right to do this. It is part of measures to ensure judicial accountability as all institutions including the judiciary are subject to the constitution. If the judiciary is uncomfortable with that then it has to take steps to reform and change the growing negative public perceptions about it.

We wish to state that the judiciary should take the advice of H.E. John Mahama seriously and reflect on it each time it is called upon to do its work. The evidence from two different reputable think tanks which show the gradual decline in citizens’ trust in the judiciary must be of major concern to the Chief Justice. If steps are not taken to address these issues, citizens will not stop expressing their opinions about it.

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