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A former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Justice Francis Emile Short, has advocated a review of the process for the appointment of judges to include strict background checks. He said he believed that the current recruitment process was terribly deficient, as serious scrutiny of the background of nominees was virtually non-existent, a situation which provided room for people with questionable characters to infiltrate the system. Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra Thursday on the Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tiger Eye PI investigative piece that captured some magistrates and judges on video allegedly collecting bribes, Mr Justice Short expressed concern that although the extraordinary powers vested in judicial office demanded high moral and proven character, that appeared to be fading away. He indicated that when individuals charged with dispensing justice in society became corrupted, the entire country stood to lose. �I believe that there is something wrong with the appointment process and the time has come for vigorous background checks to be made of persons going to the Bench,� he said. Reluctance A retired Justice of the Court of Appeal and academic, Mr Justice Short believed that the reluctance of many lawyers to go to the Bench had created the problem of recruiting people to the Bench without due diligence. �It seems to me that because the Judiciary is in desperate need of judges and many lawyers are unwilling to go to the Bench because it is not lucrative, the needed checks are not done,� he explained. But, he pointed out, it would be suicidal to sacrifice quality for numbers, especially with the Judiciary where people were supposed to dispense justice. While admitting that corruption was everywhere, he said it was more disastrous when it occurred in the Judiciary. Passing judgement Mr Justice Short watched the Anas video at the Accra International Conference Centre last Tuesday and said although he would not pass any judgement now on the judges and magistrates who were allegedly caught receiving bribes, there was no question that the Judiciary needed reforms. �I am not going to pass judgement on anybody now, even though I watched the video. As a judge, I am compelled to withhold judgement until investigations into the matter are complete,� he said. Nonetheless, he was disappointed at the way ethics were thrown to the dogs. �From the video, I can say that all is not well with our Judiciary. For instance, I was disappointed at some judges inviting people to their houses to discuss cases before their courts. �It didn�t present a good impression of how people who hold such high offices should behave. It is against their code of ethics,� the retired CHRAJ boss intimated. On how to restructure the courts, he said there was the need to ensure total computerisation of the courts to avoid person-to-person contact, which created opportunities for corruption to occur. In spite of his discomfort with the Anas video, Mr Justice Short stated that it would be preposterous for anyone to tag the entire Judiciary as corrupt. �There are good judges in this country. I can vouch for the integrity of many of our judges,� he said, and added that the Anas video, which saw some magistrates and judges refusing to be bribed, attested to his position. Attacking corruption He said as a way of attacking corruption in the country, it would be a mistake for the focus to be on only the Judiciary. Rather, the net must be cast wider to include various institutions. And in that context, he suggested that the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP), which governments had failed to implement, needed to come on board at full throttle. He said the NACAP strategies relating to education and the institution of a Whistle Blower�s Fund must not be underrated. Anas commended Mr Justice Short commended Anas and his team for taking the pains to investigate the Judiciary and exposing corruption in a number of state institutions so far.