Her Ladyship the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia A. B. Akuffo, has cautioned Journalists that their practice of investigative journalism should be in the interest of the public and not for ulterior motives.

“The limit of investigative journalism is privacy and the limit of privacy is the public interest and so if we bear this simple statement in mind, we will not cross lines that will create problems because what is required is a careful act of balancing to reach a perfect equilibrium in a democracy like ours. So far as there are investigative journalists who want to peek into people’s private lives, they must bear in mind the importance of the fact that in peeking into someone’s private life, you are serving a public interest and not just playing mischief”, she said.  

She was delivering the keynote address at the 23^rd Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA) Awards held in Accra, on the theme “State of Investigative Journalism: Boundaries of Privacy and Borders of the Public Interest.

The Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Her Ladyship Justice Sophia A. B. Akuffo has advocated the linkage of various social interventions and reforms to support the alternative sentencing policy so as to make its implementation effective and efficient.    

Speaking at a conference on how to consolidate efforts to enrich the zero draft Non-Custodial Sentencing Bill, she noted that, “there are all forms of social interventions that we must now also connect as a nation because if we don’t do so for the whole activity and you leave bits, they would continue to harm and draw down the effectiveness of what you want to do…’’.

His Lordship Justice Julius Ansah, a Justice of the Supreme Court, has charged newly sworn-in Commissioners for Oaths to act as unbiased witnesses to documents in order to prevent fraud.

“As sworn public officials you play an important role in the prevention of fraud and protection of what is involved by acting as official, unbiased witnesses to some documents.  As a result of this, all Commissioners for Oaths should understand the duties and responsibilities of Commissioners for Oaths and properly perform your duties accordingly” he said.

Justice Julius Ansah was speaking at the swearing-in of the first batch of 300 Commissioners for Oaths in Accra, an activity in support of the ongoing exercise by the National Identifcation Authority to verify and register Ghanaians.