CJ’s complaint against Dominic Ayine proper – Ndebugre

There is no problem with the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah filing a disciplinary complaint against legal practitioner and Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga East, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine at the General Legal Council (GLC).

According to private legal practitioner and former Member of Parliament for Zebilla, Mr. John Ndebugre, the arguments being made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and other people against the complaint are issues, which should be dealt with when Dr. Ayine appears before the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council (GLC).

“I think he [Chief Justice] was the proper person to initiate a complaint because the statement that Dr Ayine made which resulted in this complaint was that, in summary, his confidence in the independence of the judiciary has been shaken somehow by the manner in which the presidential election petition was handled or determined.”

Complaint

The Chief Justice has reported lawyer Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine to the Disciplinary Committee of the GLC for statements he allegedly made during a panel discussion on Presidential Election Petitions and their impact on Africa’s Democracy.

Dr. Ayine has been accused of questioning the independence of the Judiciary due to the manner the Supreme Court adjudicated the 2020 presidential election petition.

The petition says Dr. Ayine’s basis for his assertion during the discussion is the Supreme Court’s failure to apply the rules of procedure as well as the consistent and continuous dismissal of the petitioner’s applications or reliefs.

“These comments are made against the backdrop of the Supreme Court discharging Dr. Ayine on a charge of contempt for similar comments made against members of the Supreme Court during the Election Petition hearing. Dr. Ayine apologized profusely when he appeared before the Court on the Contempt charge and admitted to having made comments which were unbecoming of a Lawyer of his standing and a former Deputy Attorney-General.”

Ayine’s reply

Dr. Ayine, in his eleven-paged response to the CJ’s complaint, is insisting that his comments did not attack the reputation of the justices who sat on the election petition case.

He insists that his comments were in good faith.

“As I have stated in this response, as a lawyer, I have a special responsibility to engage in criticism of the work of the judiciary. By reason of my training and experience, I am better placed than most of my fellow citizens to point out deficiencies in judgments and in the performance by the judiciary of its core constitutional mandate.”

He further posited that his comments were within the confines of fair and temperate speech.

NDC’s argument

The main opposition political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at a press conference in Accra on Monday asked the Chief Justice to withdraw his disciplinary complaint against Dr Ayine.

Ndebugre’s argument

Disagreeing with positions that the Chief Justice should withdraw the complaint and that he has no locus to file such a complaint, Mr. Ndebugre said Dr Ayine was not talking about an individual member of the panel or the members of the panel who were just seven. He wasn’t talking about combination of them. He talked about the whole judiciary and the Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary and therefore he was the proper person to lay the complaint.

Speaking in a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Accra based Citi FM on Tuesday evening (June 22, 2021), Mr. Ndebugre said: “I think that there is no problem about the Chief Justice laying the complaint.”

Comparing that to what happened in 1996 – the Republic against Mensah Bonsu, Stephen Quarcoo and Tommy Thompson – in that case Mensah Bonsu attacked an individual judge, Justice Abban and therefore he made the complaint and then the Attorney-General took it up from there and prosecuted the matter on behalf of the judiciary or the court.

No problem about CJ filing complaint

“So I think that there is no problem about the Chief Justice laying the complaint.

The other matter is that, Dominic Ayine was Deputy Attorney-General, and he and his boss at that time took people to the criminal court, proceeding to the civil court… so if the Attorney-General approves the prosecution of a person, can somebody say that no, the person was expressing freedom of speech… therefore he should not be sent to court. No, you are to go to the court and make your case, and state your case, and say that you were not guilty of the offence charged. So in the same measure, the Chief Justice thinks that the statement was untoward so far as the independence of the judiciary is concerned. So you go there, all those arguments that are being bandied about now, both by the NDC and Dr Ayine himself are matters that should be at the Disciplinary Committee,” Mr Ndebugre added.

Insisting that he does not want to discuss the merits, he maintained that there are two forms, it is like contempt, whiles the matter is still pending, which is you are interfering with the administration of justice if you make prejudicial statements whiles the case is still pending, then after the judgment has been given and you make statements that scandalise the courts, you can be pursued for that.

SOURCE: GRAPHICONLINE.COM