Chief Justice chides Mahama and Nana Addo’s lawyers for ‘twisted’ media comments

Chief Justice Kwesi Anin-Yeboah has again cautioned the various legal counsel in the election petition to be circumspect in their media comments.

At the end of the hearing on Monday, he said some of the lawyers involved in the case “keep on twisting the facts which actually occurred in the court and seek to even prejudice whatever the court proceedings were.”

The Chief Justice further drew their attention to a section from Regulation 55 of the Legal Profession Etiquette, Conduct, and Etiquette Rules which he expected the lawyers to abide by.

“A lawyer shall not publish or cause to be published material concerning current or potential cases including proceedings for which a lawyer is engaged or seeks to be engaged which is inaccurate or received comment or necessary description is calculated or is likely to a material degree to diminish or be prejudicious to the public confidence in the administration of justice,” he read.

The Chief Justice said both sides have been guilty in this regard, and he singled out Marietta Brew Oppong and Yaw Oppong, lawyers for John Mahama and President Akufo-Addo respectively.

On Mrs. Brew Oppong, Anin-Yeboah said she made statements in the media “even touching on the demeanor of witnesses.”

The Chief Justice also chided Mr. Oppong for having discussed the case on a news analysis programme over the weekend.

“We think that since you have been announced in this case, it is unacceptable,” Justice Anin-Yeboah said.

Frank Davies, one of the lawyers representing President Akufo-Addo, had also been cautioned against granting media interviews at the end of sittings.