It has emerged that about 17 out of the 22 circuit court judges and magistrates implicated in the latest expos� by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas may be charged before the Disciplinary Committee of the Judicial Council (JC).
According to sources, the Attorney-General�s (AG�s) representative on the committee which was instituted by Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood to investigate the alleged bribery scandal involving them, was preparing the charges.
They are expected to be charged for corruption and misdemeanour under Section 239 sub-sections 1& 2 of the Criminal Code of 1960.
Although the source would not drop any names, it was emphatic that the lower judges may have to prove why they should not be sanctioned.
Thirty-four judges from both superior and lower courts were allegedly captured on audio-visuals receiving bribes from suspected criminals in exchange for favourable court outcomes.
Anas is said to have been invited to appear before the five-member committee probing the scandal.
Twenty-two of the judges from the lower courts are on suspension while 12 high court judges had until the close of day yesterday to respond to the petition containing the scandal.
The hint of prosecuting the judges comes on the heels of a writ filed at the high court by Charles Bentum of Bentum, Amoah & Co. on Friday as some 14 judges of the lower courts were challenging the legality of the composition of the disciplinary committee.
The plaintiffs want a declaration that the disciplinary proceedings by the Judicial Council against them are contrary to law and or due process.
The 14 judges are also asking the high court to declare that the panel constituted by the Chief Justice to institute disciplinary proceedings against them has no legal basis and therefore null and void.
The plaintiffs, in a 15-paragraph statement of claim, among others, alleged that the report at all material time was not made available to them and that they were directed to respond to same not later than September 8, 2015.
The lawyers said the letter also directed each of the plaintiffs to appear before a disciplinary committee of the Judicial Service on September 10 at 10am to answer the allegation of bribery made against them.
According to the lawyers, their clients were in the circumstances entitled to be informed whether the proceedings against them were to be summary or formal in accordance with law.
The suit further contended that insofar as the penalty attached to the misconduct alleged against them depended on whether the proceedings were summary or formal, the plaintiffs were entitled to be informed of the nature of the proceedings being instituted against them.
The damning revelation contained in the latest expos� by Anas titled, �Ghana in the Eyes of God � Epic of Injustice,� the piece of investigative work expected to be premiered at the Accra International Conference Centre on September 22, 2015, shook the judiciary to its very foundation.
<<Print>>