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Brilliant law students to clerk for Supreme Court judges
Accra, March 13, Ghanadot/GNA- Brilliant students from the
Ghana School of Law
would be assigned to Judges of the Supreme Court to assist
in research into various aspects of cases before judgments
are delivered.
Mr. Justice Stephen Allan Brobbey, a Supreme Court Judge,
who made this known in Accra on Thursday, said: "The
numerous judgments produced by Judges will be checked for
accuracy of citations and references. The services the
judicial clerk will be required to perform include drafting
of memoranda and court opinions, proof reading and
verification of reference and citations."
The clerkship programme, now introduced in Ghana's judicial
system, is practiced in the United State of America.
In the US, lawyers engaged in the programme are the best
graduates from
the School of Law and students who possess high academic
achievements coupled with recommendation by lecturers or
employers.
Fordham Law School, USA, is supporting the programme in
Ghana in collaboration with the Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology and Judicial Service.
So far four students, including to two females, have been
recruited to begin the clerkship programme.
Mr Justice Brobbey, however, said the students, who would be
known as judicial clerks, were not glorified messengers of
the judges.
"The judicial clerk will be confined to purely judicial and
official duties and responsibilities. Depending on how
successful it takes off, it is intended to be extended to
the remaining superior courts of justice in the Court of
Appeal and High Courts."
Mr Justice Brobbey cautioned against the leakage of
information for a fee by the clerks.
He noted that the judiciary in the 1980s experimented a
similar programme that could not be sustained as a result of
number of reasons.
The Supreme Court judge explained that the system could not
work because some of the judges could not vouch for the
confidentiality of the clerks and that they were also not
prepared to take risks with new lawyers.
"We were not sure how far we could rely on the trust reposed
in the clerks not to leak out information on judgment before
they were read publicly," he said.
"A clerk who completes his engagement with no whisper of
suspicion about his integrity and trust will be highly
recommended for future engagement on the Bench and other
areas of the law," Mr Justice Brobbey added.
He said a judicial clerk who would be found to be unreliable
and untrustworthy for any reason whatsoever would forever
lose out throughout his membership of the bar.
Mr Justice Brobbey therefore appealed to the clerks to give
of their best to ensure the sustenance of the programme.
Mr Justice S.K. Date-Baah, a judge of the Supreme Court,
said one of the aims of the scheme was to improve on quality
of justice in the country.
Dr Kofi Abotsi, Coordinator of the Clerkship Programme, said
the scheme was necessary in the jurisprudence of the Supreme
Court.
He said under the programme, clerks would work for a year
and based on excellent performance would be required to work
for another year.
Br Abotsi said the programme was a prestigious one and
appealed to students to take the opportunity offered them.
Professor Paolo Galazzi, Fordham Law School, USA, said his
school had been offering training services for the Police
and other human rights institutions in the country.
Professor Galazzi said Ghana was chosen for its record of
good governance and the rule of law.
He appealed to the Judicial Service to network with other
countries in respect of judgments delivered by the courts.
GNA
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