Legal vacation: Lawyers cannot decide when court cases proceed – Deputy AG

Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, has dismissed the Ghana Bar Association’s (GBA) claim that the presence of lawyers should dictate whether court cases continue during the legal vacation. This stance came after the GBA sent a letter to Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie on August 10, expressing worry over directives that required lawyers to appear in Vacation Courts even though they stated they would be unavailable.

The Association argued that the legal vacation, which lasts from August 1 to September 30, is meant to give judges, lawyers, and judicial staff a break after a busy court schedule. The GBA pointed out that Vacation Courts may hear cases that are urgent or need immediate attention but generally do not hold trials, especially where attorneys are not available.

They argued that if a lawyer informs the court they cannot make it, the matter should be delayed. "Counsels are not under any compulsion whatsoever to appear before a Vacation Court," the GBA asserted, stressing that a planned matter could not go ahead if either side’s counsel indicated they could not take part during the vacation.

Dr Srem-Sai, however, disagreed with that view. He said the power to decide how court proceedings are handled lies with the judiciary, not the lawyers. According to him, a lawyer’s main job is to their client, not to another lawyer’s client. "A lawyer’s primary duty is, in fact, to his client – not to the client of another lawyer," he argued.

He claimed that it would be problematic for the availability of one lawyer to be the deciding factor in how justice is administered. Dr Srem-Sai said the Chief Justice has the power to decide when and where courts meet during the legal vacation, while individual judges have the authority to manage the cases before them. However, he accepted that lawyers wanting a break during the vacation may ask the court for understanding.

He explained that a judge might grant such a request entirely or partially, depending on the case’s specifics and what is fair to justice. "What a professional lawyer is not entitled to, and cannot do is to, in vacuo, beforehand, declare that he will not attend proceedings at all," he said.