The Supreme Court
The panel of judges hearing the ongoing Election petition case in court has ordered lawyers involved in the case to end the arguments over ‘petty issues’ as it does not send good signals about the profession and the court to young lawyers and people watching the live telecast of the case.
Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata on behalf of the 2nd and 3rd respondents objected to the tendering of a document by Lawyer Philip Addison during his cross-examination of the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, (EC) saying they did not have copies of those documents.
“We respectively draw your attention to exhibits which are being shown to the witness without a clear confirmation that these are not among the exhibits that have been filled by these courts” he said.
This led to a back and forth exchange between the lawyers with Mr. Addison dismissing claims by the lawyers for the respondents.
“My lord, it becomes very difficult for our case since we don’t know the exhibits the respondents have been served with because as it is, every pink sheet that we submit all they say is we don’t have it and then we have stopped that is unfair. They have refused to disclose the list they have been served with and all they keep meeting us with is we don’t have this and we are supposed to be stopped by that” he said.
One of the judges on the panel called the lawyers to order saying “I’m surprised in the highest court of the land, the counsel is not giving the right signal to young ones, unfortunately it is being shown live and it is putting us in a very bad light, I think counsel should change. This is a very small matter talk to each other and resolve it.”
The exchanges by the lawyers and the intervention of the judge led to the president of the panel of judges, Justice William Atuguba, ordering all parties to meet and settle their differences before hearing resume.
The court is currently on recess and will resume after the decision is made.
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