Lawyer Fosu-Gyeabour sues CJ, GLC over circular directing courts not to grant him audience

A private legal practitioner, Kwame Fosu-Gyeabour, has sued the Chief Justice, the General Legal Council (GLC), and another over a circular issued to the courts to deny him access to represent clients.

He avers that the said directive is unlawful and illegal since it purportedly nullifies all orders obtained by him for his clients.

The plaintiff is thus praying for the court to, among other things, declare the circular unconstitutional owing to its breach of the rules of natural justice.

According to the facts of the case, the lawyer of twenty-three (23) years standing, was somewhere last year convicted and suspended from practicing as a lawyer for twelve months beginning May 1, 2023.

Subsequently, he appealed against the decision and filed a motion for a stay of execution of the sentence, which was granted by the Court of Appeal.

Following this however, the General Legal Council(GLC) went to the Supreme Court with a motion for judicial review but was dismissed on February 7, 2024.

The plaintiff indicates that irrespective of the fact that he had paid all his bar and solicitor license fees and gotten his license renewed by January 3, 2024, the defendants released a circular on February 16 announcing the opposite.

He adds that the circular, which was neither served nor copied to him, purportedly nullified all orders he might have obtained in court for the year and directed all courts not to give him an audience.

Lawyer Fosu-Gyeabour thus contends that the defendants have no powers to nullify orders of courts of competent jurisdiction by their circular and that the same is illegal, capricious, arbitrary, and unconscionable, and wants the court to make a declaration and issue a perpetual injunction directed at the Chief Justice, General Legal Council and the Judicial Secretary.