GEORGE & DBES ENGINEERING LTD v. TORBUI HUTEHU

RULING

It is stated under section 43 of the Legal Profession Act, Act 32 that:

“Every person who draws or prepares any legal document for reward shall endorse or cause to be endorsed thereon his name and address…”

This application mounted by the Defendants/Applicants is anchored on the above statutory provision wherein learned counsel contend that the writ initiated and served on the Applicants is incurably bad as far as the signature on the writ appears above the law firm, Savers Chambers, who issued the writ. That the substantive statutory requirement of the law does not permit a writ or a legal process to be issued by a law firm but rather by a lawyer who has been called to the Ghana bar and whose name appear on the roll of lawyers. Though counsel for the Applicants concede that the name of one Korbla Hlortsi-Akakpo appears on the writ as lawyer for the Plaintiff but it does not appear that the place where the signature is and therefore the writ ought to be dismissed in limini.

The second objection which was not forcefully canvassed by counsel is the capacity in which Plaintiff mounted the action that the action ought to be initiated by a company but not the Plaintiff in his personal capacity.

A proper appreciation of section 43 would not be made unless it is viewed in consonance with Rule 4 of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules, 1969, L. I. 613 which states that:

Rule “4(1):A lawyer shall not practise unless he is a member of professional chambers or the pupil of such a member.”

“(4) All professional chambers shall be registered with the General Legal Council”

Whilst the registration of chambers where lawyers who have been enrolled on the roll of lawyers have its place, that is a lawyer cannot practice law unless he does so from a law firm that has validly been registered with the General legal Council, section 43 of Act 32 makes it mandatory for only lawyers to sign legal documents including writ but not the law firm. See the decision of Mabel Agyemang JA in NII LANTE MILLS v MILDRED AMA WOODE (unreported) H3/563/2015 dated 20th October, 2015. And this could be said to even flow from the decision of the decision of the Supreme Court in THE REPUBLIC V. HIGH COURT (FAST TRACK DIVISION) ACCRA; EX PARTE JUSTIN PWAVRA TERIWAJAH AND ANOR (REISS & CO (GHANA) LIMITED, INTERESTED PARTY) CIVIL MOTION NO. J5/7/2013.

I have also carefully read the sublime decision of my learned brother, Bright Mensah J in the case of JAMES DA