He the action by the Chief Justice, Kwesi Annin Yeboah to drag Dr. Ayine to the GLC over some comments he made on the 2020 election petition is shocking.
According to the former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Dr. Ayine didn’t say anything libelous in his submission about the election petition.
He said Dr Ayine only did what lawyers and academics are supposed to do.
"There is no immunity from public criticisms in respect to judgments of judges or the conduct of judges... and so judges must be aware that the spotlight will be shown on their activities.
"I do not see anything particularly wrong with anybody criticizing a judgment or a conduct of a judge based on consistency, that is the inconsistencies in the judgment based on lack of a deeper understanding of the procedure or the application the application of the law," he said.
In a letter written by the Judicial Secretary to the General Legal Council, the Chief Justice raised an issue with the views expressed by Dr. Ayine on the 2020 Election Petition Judgment on a CDD-Ghana platform.
In a radio interview with Accra based Citi FM, he also said: “This is what we did for the five years we were studying law. We critiqued judgements within the confines of the law faculty, law school and we appealed against decisions of the court because of the disagreements with the opinion expressed by a judgement and when you disagree, you must point out the area you disagree with, either inconsistent with the law or procedure.”
“That is what we do on a daily basis. You don’t criticize a judge based on his personality traits, it is in the performance of his function that you are at liberty to point out any inconsistency or fact that points to a lack of adherence to the rules of procedure, and it’s acceptable.”
“To me, that is what Dominic Ayine, even in the first criticism of the court sought to do and the repeat at the Civil Society Forum, created by CDD was exactly what he sought to do again because Dominic Ayine has been a lecturer of the law and in Law faculty, that was what he was doing. He knows the parameters of criticisms within which to operate,” he added.