Alex Nartey, National President of the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has said the judges in the various courts in the country are scaring staff of the association.

According to him, the situation is affecting the confidence of the workforce of the judicial service.

“We need to instill confidence in the workforce; one thing we have noticed is that the staff fear the judges too much,” he said.

Alex Nartey was speaking at the opening of the two-day Conference of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) on the theme: “Restoring the Image of The Judiciary.”

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Touching on the conditions of service of JUSAG staff, Alex Nartey said members of the association could engage in corrupt practices because they are poorly paid.

“So many factors contribute to corruption, if you have a registrar in Ghana today whose take home pay is below GH¢1,000 and little is said about it, we all can be sure that it can lead to the registrar seeking favour elsewhere to make ends meet,” he lamented.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court Judge, Justice William Atuguba has said judges and magistrates in the country must be given a “unique” remuneration system which would be different from all existing salary systems in Ghana.

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Addressing the annual magistrates and judges’ conference at the La Beach Hotel in Accra, Wednesday, September 28, Justice Atuguba said the move will prevent judges from falling victims to bribery and corruption.

“I call on the Bar, the Judicial Council and the Bench to coordinate their efforts and engage the article 71 committees and other relevant authorities to press for, recognition of and response of the fact that the Bench has a unique and pivotal role to play in this country and its conditions of Service must correspondingly be unique and should not be considered in common with any generalized policy on pay structure or the like," he said.

“In this connection I call for the restoration of an enhanced leave allowance, substantial entertainment allowance, a handsome allowance for the loss of private professional practice as it is enjoyed by Doctors, Teachers, and others,” Justice Atuguba added.