The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has said it fully and completely associates itself with the Chief Justice’s directive to trial judges to observe the age-old tradition of calling cases of senior lawyers first in courts.
The Chief Justice’s order means that judges will be calling cases in order of seniority of enrolment of the lawyers handling those cases, notwithstanding the notion of equality at the Bar.
The GBA, in a statement, said it “unreservedly” endorses the directive because it presents a unique and special opportunity for lawyers, particularly those relatively young at the Bar, to learn from the rich experience of senior lawyers, especially the advocacy skills of such senior lawyers.
This, according to the GBA, has a huge potential of benefiting people who hire the services of lawyers, as the practice affords lawyers, especially young lawyers, the unbridled opportunity of honing their skills.
The GBA is, thus, calling on all lawyers who practice in the courts of Ghana to fully cooperate with trial judges in upholding “this age-old tradition and practice as lawyers stand a great chance of benefitting immensely from same, especially so as the right to call a case out of turn is not absolute and is exercisable subject to the convenience of the court”.
