Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, has reopened the Court of Appeal in other parts of the country.
Previously, apart from Accra, the Court of Appeal used to sit in Kumasi, Tamale, Ho, Koforidua and Cape Coast to deliver justice pertaining to other parts of the country, but such arrangements were put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
With the reopening, apart from Accra, the Court of Appeal will sit in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Koforidua in the Eastern Region and Sekondi in the Western Region.
Justice Torkornoo announced this during an interaction with the Judicial Press Corps at the Law Court Complex in Accra last Thursday.
Commencement
The Chief Justice said administrative procedures had been put in place to ensure that the reopened courts commenced operations during the latter part of this month.
“A lot of consultation has gone into all these decisions. We have spoken with Parliament, the Bar and other stakeholders to arrive at this,” she said.
Justice Torkornoo further explained that the reopening of the Court of Appeal was part of continuous efforts by the judiciary to bring justice closer to people.
“Justice is a product of people of Ghana. Law is made by the people of Ghana; it is only administered by the judiciary, and therefore, we must take all steps to bring justice closer to people,” she said.
The Chief Justice announced that the Court of Appeal in Kumasi will cater to the legal needs of the Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, and Western North regions. Additionally, virtual court sessions will be conducted for the six northern regions.
“The Court of Appeal for the northern regions will be reopened by a satellite registry in Tamale, and cases will be heard virtually from Kumasi,” she said.
Justice Torkornoo elaborated that due to the deteriorating condition of the Cape Coast court complex, the Court of Appeal in Cape Coast has been relocated to Sekondi. Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal in Koforidua will now handle cases for the Eastern, Oti, and Volta regions.
Regarding the new Court Shift System (CSS) being piloted in Accra, Justice Torkornoo clarified that its purpose is to alleviate the caseload in courts and improve justice delivery. Under this system, selected courts will operate morning and afternoon sessions, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. respectively.
The courts participating in the CSS include the two High Courts at Adentan, Amasaman High Court One, Circuit Court at Weija, District Court at La, District Court at Teshie, two District Courts at Madina, and Nsawam High Court.
Justice Torkornoo highlighted that the CSS was introduced to address the imbalance in caseloads, with some courts burdened with up to 1,000 cases while others had fewer than 30 cases.
“Those judges with few cases are hardly doing any work, not because they do not want to work but because the people in their jurisdictions are not bringing many disputes to court,” she said.
