WHO IS A MEMBER OF A LEGAL TEAM?

I stopped, looked and listened to the four lead counsels in the ongoing 2012 election petition introduced to the court presided by Justice William Atuguba the lawyers helping them battle the petition. For the twenty seven days or so hearing of the petition, I have not heard or seen any of the lead counsels for either sides naming the sort of persons introduced to us by the media as members and spokespersons of the litigating lawyers i.e. Nana Atto Dadze, Yaw Boabeng Asamoah, Amaliba Abraham, David Annan, kojogah Adawudu and so on.

What baffles me is their unwillingness to correct the erroneous designations assigned them by the media. Because as an interviewee you are entitled to correct an interviewer whenever you are wrongly introduced.

For me, it is either the media is not been factual to its listenership or they are just interested in mischief that will help fuel the hopes of fanatics of the ligating factions. 

I contend why, lawyers who are not known to a court of competent jurisdiction in an ongoing case could be referred to by the media as members and spokespersons? In the case of Gloria Akufo you and I have seen her been introduced to the court by her lead counsel Philip Addison. Same cannot be said of the rest of those who sits far from the teams they claim to be a part of.

On the face of the pink sheets, a spokesperson is a person who speaks as a representative of a group. It is obvious per the exhibits tendered by the lead counsels, all those lawyers in courtroom with their cassock cannot be taken to be members of either of the litigating lawyers. These may only amount to a situation where the number of people who have voted in a particular polling station is found out to be more than persons on the voter’s register of that very polling station. As to what it is referred to, is a matter for the court to decide.

I taught it was for expeditious trial, and the aversion of an ‘ambush reportage’, that you and the Danquah Institute advocated for the live telecast of the proceedings. And it was not ‘decoration’ that the Chief Justice issued the administrative directive for the live telecast. I suggest to you that it was meant for all of us, lawyers and non-lawyers to watch for ourselves in order not fall prey to propagandists and rumour mongers.

What I find worrisome is the haste with which the media make to talk to these observing cassock wearers who are always in court to broaden their understanding of the case before the nine Supreme Justices.

I am not by this impugning on the professional competences of those lawyers who have voluntarily taken-up engagements that they were never appointed to. Neither am I asking the media not to talk to them as lawyers. My concern however, is the titles given them or have assigned to themselves prior to any interview they granted since the petition hearing.

One can however belong to a government or a political party’s legal team, and may not automatically be part of lawyers prosecuting a particular case at a time, hence it is the media’s burden to furnish us with truthful information.

The media in my own opinion can do better by talking to law lecturers and the station’s lawyers for clarifications on matters boggling their understanding either than political party propagandists parading themselves as spokespersons who are quick to pontificate the so called  weakness or otherwise truthfulness of a witness ahead the declaratory judgement by the Justice Atuguba presided court.

These spokespersons only not disrespect the court, but also commit ‘corpus delicti’ and jumping to conclusions at to which witness is clueless and masterful. They sometimes goes to the extent of telling which witness is corroborating who and demolishing cases.

I find these trend rather troubling of the learned profession that was supposed to be forerunner our infant democracy.

I object to the flippancy of the media naming persons just to put wait on their interviews. My lords as to who a member of a legal team is, I think it borders on matters of law, I trust that your lordships will deal and rule appropriately on it.