Accra, Ghana//-The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (“the Center”) today urged the Chief Justice, His Lordship Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, to exercise the highest possible restraint and discretion in his public engagement and commentary.
This follows His Lordship Justice recent remarks made on September 2, 2026, during his visits to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) alongside members of the Council for Legal Education and Training.
At MIIF, the Chief Justice lauded current management while questioning the organization’s performance over “the past eight years.” At SSNIT, he contrasted current operations with past attempts to sell off certain properties in the organization’s portfolio of assets, openly lamenting how the management of the nation’s affairs had previously “sunk so low.”
By explicitly contrasting performance under the current administration with its predecessor’s, the Chief Justice crossed a vital constitutional line into partisan validation, the NGO said in a press release.
“Such commentary creates a perception of political bias, compromises the Judiciary’s non-partisan mandate, and risks breaching the Code of Conduct for Judges and Magistrates.
These remarks come at a perilous moment for the bench. Public trust in the Judiciary has fallen to its lowest point since Afrobarometer tracking began in 1999, it noted.
The Round 10 (2024) survey found that only 35% of citizens trust the courts — a 21-percentage-point decline since 2012 — while 62% believe judicial decisions are routinely swayed by powerful interests, and roughly half doubt that an ordinary person can obtain a fair trial.
Judges are not expected to withdraw from public life, but their office demands the self-restraint needed to preserve public confidence. Justice must not only be done but be seen to be done — a principle that requires the unequivocal appearance of neutrality, not merely its substance.
To safeguard institutional integrity, the Center urged the Chief Justice to lead by example: adhere strictly to the Code of Conduct, and confine public appearances, including engagements with other state institutions, to matters that directly serve court administration or legal development.
The Judicial Council and the Association of Judges and Magistrates must also strengthen internal oversight, holding all judicial officers accountable regardless of rank, the release added.
The Judiciary is the bedrock of Ghana’s constitutional order; when its integrity is compromised, democratic stability is put at risk. Judicial authority depends entirely on public confidence — a resource that is already running dangerously low — and no explanation offered after the fact can repair damage that better judgment would have avoided in the first place. Credibility is preserved by conduct that leaves no room for doubt.
The Center called on the Chief Justice to reflect on the solemn duties of his office, align his conduct with its ethical demands, and uphold the Code of Conduct to restore the public trust essential to the administration of justice.
