<<Print>>

A Former Senior State Attorney, Augustine Obour has urged the Magistrates and Circuit Court judges who have been sacked after being implicated in the judicial corruption scandal to seek redress from the courts.

He is of the view that the implicated judges were not given a fair opportunity to defend themselves because they were tried before a committee instead of a court of law.

An appeal in the law court may lead to a pardon and not necessarily a sacking, lawyer Obuor argues.

"The implicated judges should have taken the matter to court and not sit down and allow a committee which has been set up to investigate the matter to decide their fate. Who knows, maybe they will not (have been) sacked (if they had gone to court)” he noted.

Twenty Magistrate and Circuit Court judges implicated in the judicial corruption scandal exposed by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas have been sacked following the investigations into their conduct.

This was disclosed by the Chief Justice Theodora Georgina Wood at a press briefing in Accra Monday.

Seven out of 12 High court judges who were also implicated in the scandal are already serving suspensions over the same matter.

Presenting the report of the Judicial Council's investigations into the scandal that has shaken the foundation of Ghana's judiciary, Mrs. Georgina Wood noted, however, that the judges who showed remorse following the expose' will be given severance packages while those who denied their involvement in spite of the evidence against them, will be sent home empty handed.

But the Former State Attorney on Accra based Okay fm Tuesday described the move as 'shocking', adding that the immunity given to the undercover journalist has contributed immensely to the sacking of the judges.

This he believes has had a negative impact on legal procedures and norms in Ghana.

After a two-year investigations journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, petitioned the Chief Justice Georgina Wood to impeach the implicated judges as well as sack over a 100 Judicial Service staff who were filmed receiving bribes to influence judgments in cases being heard in their courts.