A Boost for the Circuit Court Bench, a Lawyer in Trouble and Other Legal news

Circuit Court Bench receives a major boost

On Thursday 22nd January 2026, fifty-two (52) new Circuit Court judges were sworn into office by the Honourable Chief Justice at a ceremony held in Accra.

The newly appointed judges were drawn from a cross-section of the legal profession including serving district court magistrates, private  legal practitioners and lawyers from the public service.

The circuit court remains a key component of Ghana’s judicial architecture, exercising both civil and criminal jurisdictions.  In civil matters, It has jurisdiction in personal actions (contract/tort) for liquidated sums up to GH₵2,000,000 (as per L.I 2429) On criminal matters, it has jurisdiction to preside  over all offences except treason, high treason, first degree felonies (save for robbery when tried summarily), and offences punishable by life imprisonment.

The timing of these appointment and swearing-in could not have come at a much better time. Circuit Courts across the country have faced significant “vacancies”, a situation precipitated by the recent elevation of more than 30 Circuit Court Judges to the High Court bench in November, 2025. It is expected that their appointments and postings to the various stations across the country will help ease the pressures at the courts, ensure expeditious hearing of cases and bring justice delivery more closer to the doorsteps of the ordinary Ghanaian- particularly those in the hinterlands.

At 233 Legal, we extend our warm congratulations and best wishes to the newly sworn-in judges as they embark on the next phase of their judicial career. We also call on the State and the management of the judiciary  to continue improving their conditions of service and offer them the needed institutional support and motivation to enable them discharge their mandate  diligently and effectively.

Lawyer loses Licence to practise

A lawyer in London who lied about needing cancer treatment has been banned from practising.

Soham Sanchamiya who has suffered from cancer in the past told his Boss at the law firm Reed Smith that it had returned and said he needed to take week off for treatment.

The lawyer then faked a doctors letter to support his claim and submitted it to his firm’s HR Department.

The document was later flagged by the firm as suspicious.

He has now been banned from practise and ordered to pay 22,000 British Pounds by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in relation to the incident. The Telegragh

Don Lemon escapes prosecution

A federal magistrate judge refused to sign off on a complaint charging former CNN journalist Don Lemon over his involvement in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota.

Lemon, who works independently, said he was present during the protest as a journalist, not a participant. In a video of the encounter he posted on YouTube, Lemon says, “I’m just here photographing, I am not part of the group…I am a journalist.” 

A lawyer for Lemon, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement: “Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court. Wall street Journal

US Supreme Court balks at an unusual executive interfearance

Supreme Court justices across the ideological spectrum expressed deep unease on Wednesday about President Trump’s attempt to fire a member of the Federal Reserve, with several stressing the importance of a central bank insulated from political pressure.

Their comments during nearly two hours of oral arguments signaled that the court will likely allow Fed board member Lisa Cook to remain in the job while her legal challenge to her dismissal proceeds in the lower courts.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, highlighted the long history and economic impetus of shielding monetary policy from White House control. The Trump administration’s claims of broad and unreviewable firing authority “would weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve,” Kavanaugh warned.

And he cautioned that such a broad power would pass to other presidents, allowing a future Democrat in the White House to dismiss anyone Trump appoints to the Fed during the remainder of his term.

Social media company settles a tech addiction lawsuit

Snap reached an agreement on Tuesday to settle a tech addiction lawsuit, ahead of a landmark trial in a case that claims the social media giants engineered products to hook an entire generation of young users.

The case is the first of several social media addiction lawsuits that are set to go to trial this year against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube. Following a legal playbook used against Big Tobacco decades ago, thousands of teenagers, school districts and state attorneys general have filed lawsuits accusing the companies of personal injury and other harms. They argue that features like infinite scroll, auto video play and algorithmic recommendations have led to compulsive social media use and caused depression, eating disorders and self-harm.

The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and changes to the design of social media platforms to curb excessive use. If they succeed in arguing that the tech titans created defective products that injured millions of young American users, the cases — which are regarded as bellwethers could open new lanes of liability against the tech titans. The New York Times