Judges in Ghana have been requested by the Chief Justice to wear wigs amid the release of their obligations, neighborhood news portal Starrfmonline reports.
The order from her Ladyship Justice Sophia Akuffo said viable Wednesday November 1, 2017, all judges needed to wear their wigs without come up short.
Level headed discussion around the wigs has been continuous in Ghana with the vast majority portraying it as obsolete and a provincial hand-down that did not need to be authorized. The legal administration, notwithstanding, says the move is intended to cure a ‘sneaking society of casual appearance at work’
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Her Ladyship the Chief Justice has directed that, with effect from 1st November, 2017, all judges are to wear wigs during Court sittings.
An October 23, 2017 memo signed by the judicial secretary read in part: “Her Ladyship the Chief Justice has directed that, with effect from 1st November, 2017, all judges are to wear wigs during Court sittings.”
The wigs, the memo added was to also restore the formal nature of the court proceedings and to provide the needed security and anonymity for judges. It added that they will serve to preserve the uniqueness of the members of the bench.
In Ghana, Supreme and Appeal Court judges are always seen fully robed with their wigs when conducting their duties. Same cannot be said of most High Court and Circuit Court judges much less for magistrates.
Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo is Ghana’s second female head of the judiciary. She took over from Ghana’s first female Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, who retired after a decade as head of the third arm of government.
The Chief Justice is the fourth most powerful person in Ghana behind the president, his vice and the speaker of parliament.
