Monthly Archives: March 2018

Mr. Kwasi Adu-Mante
K-San Law Firm
C125, Subukwe close
Adabraka-Accra

Severe Letter of Reprimand
Re: Ricasbed Ghana Limited Vrs. Forestry Commission Conduct of Mr. Kwasi Adu-Mante Esq.

I refer to the above subject matter.

The Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council (the “Council’) at its meeting held on 22^nd February 2018, after a preliminary inquiry at which you were present, decided that you must be reprimanded for your conduct in this matter, to wit:

As a lawyer, you blatantly disregarded the order of the Court of Appeal that the sum of GHC873,560.17 should be paid into an interest yielding account pending the final determination of the appeal. You obtained the release of the said amount of money without the notice of the parties to the suit and being fully aware that the said amount was the subject matter of a pending appeal. You also failed to bring to the notice of the trial Judge the orders of the Court of Appeal in relation to the sum of GHC873,560.17, and thereby proceeded to mislead the Court for the release of the money.

Furthermore, you failed to obey the order of the Supreme Court dated 7th February, 2017 for the sum of GHC873,560.17 to be paid into court by 21st February, 2017 and by which non-compliance you failed to uphold the dignity and high standing of your profession and your own dignity and high standing as a member of the bar.

In arriving at the decision to reprimand you , the Council considered your plea of guilty to all the three charges preferred against you under Rules 9 (4) and 2 (2) of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules, 1969 L.I. 613 and your show of deep remorse throughout the preliminary proceedings

By this letter, you are hereby severely reprimanded for your unacceptable conduct. The Council will not approve of any such professional misconduct from you in the future.

Please note that this letter will be published on the Council’s website, after delivery to you.

 SIGNED
HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE WILLIAM ATUGUBA
CHAIRPERSON, DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE
GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL

 cc: Her Ladyship Justice Sophia A. B. Akuffo,
Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana.

The General Legal Council (the “Council”) has been receiving complaints regarding the increasing patronage and proliferation of pirated law text books on the Ghanaian market. The Council is particularly concerned as the text books involved are authored by Ghanaian lawyers, judges and academics and their original versions are widely available on the Ghanaian market. There is therefore no justification for the piracy of these books.

The Council therefore wishes to bring to the attention of lawyers, law students, the entire legal community and the general public that the piracy of any text book constitutes an offence under sections 42 and 43 of the Copyright Act, 2005 (Act 690). In January 2018 an arrest was affected on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. The offender has since been prosecuted, convicted and sentenced.

Lawyers, law students, the entire legal community and the general public are advised to desist from any form of involvement in such criminal activity including patronage of such books as under Rule 9 of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules, 1969 (LI 613), criminal convictions for such offence may result in disbarment or disqualification from a call to the bar as the case may be.

The Council wishes to advise members of the legal profession to patronise and rely solely on the original versions of widely available Ghanaian law text books in order to avoid any form of complicity in a criminal offence, particularly, one which deprives industrious members of our profession of the fruits of their labour and discourages the much needed publication of scholarly works required for the advancement of the legal profession and the law in Ghana.

SIGNED
JUSTICE ALEX B. POKU-ACHEAMPONG
SECRETARY, GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL
MARCH 13, 2018