The Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, has cautioned judges and magistrates against allowing the demands of judicial office to strip them of their humanity.

He said although the judicial robe demanded restraint, discipline and a measure of distance, it should never require judges to cease being human.

Justice Baffoe-Bonnie made the call when he addressed the 45th Annual Conference of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJ) in Accra yesterday.

Citing his own experience, the Chief Justice acknowledged that he had recently come under criticism for allowing his humanity to overtake his official restraint, particularly through his attendance at public events and visits to state institutions.

“I have, in recent times, run into some trouble in this office precisely because I allowed my humanity to overtake my official restraint,” he said.

He explained that he had attended public events to honour close friends and relatives, while his position as Chairman of the Council for Legal Education and Training had also required him to undertake official visits and engagements where “perhaps the safer course would have been to remain behind the walls of the office.”