Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Director of Programmes and Advocacy at CDD-Ghana, says the Judiciary must be more sensitive to public reaction, particularly during periods when confidence in the justice system is already under pressure.
His comments follow remarks by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie during a visit to the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on Wednesday, September 2, where the Chief Justice praised the performance of MIIF and other public institutions.
The Chief Justice said some of the developments he had seen had left him wondering what Ghana had been doing over the past eight years.
Dr Asante said, given the circumstances, it was inappropriate for the Chief Justice to make such a comparison, especially considering how the public reacted to the comments.
“For me, I think that given the circumstances, it was inappropriate to make the comparison. You could just acknowledge that, and you can see the way people have reacted,” he said on Newsfile on JoyNews.
He said the reaction should be a warning to the Judiciary about the importance of maintaining public confidence in the justice system.
“Public confidence is the most important anchor for the administration of justice; if the public loses any faith in the justice delivery, it will be very difficult for it to execute its mandate,” he said.
According to him, the Judiciary must be particularly careful with its public comments during difficult periods.
“So if the public reacted this way, and sometimes, you have scanned the environment, if people have reacted this way, all it should do is tell the Judiciary that be sensitive, because these are very difficult periods,” he added.
