Financial Independence: It’s time for Judiciary to be assertive- CJ

The Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has said that it is time for the Judicial organ to be more asserted on the issue of its financial independence.

She noted that the financial Independence of the Judicial Service is constitutionally conferred and thus a sine qua non for effective justice delivery and wondered why this scheme of things has persisted.

Delivering an address at the 42nd Annual Conference of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana, the Chief Justice pledged her commitment to the issue of financial independence of the Judiciary.

Additionally, Her Ladyship bemoaned the meager increase in the budgetary allocation of the Judiciary and the Judicial Service and thus called for a discussion by stakeholders justifying why the arm of government needs to be better resourced than it had been and why the level of financial support ought to increase exponentially not only in quantum but also in scope.

Reforms

The Chief Justice made an observation, describing it as discouraging a whopping 85% of courts that are still conducting court recording proceedings manually without the use of computers.

Therefore, Justice Torkornoo, who is a great advocate for reforms in the Justice delivery process, urged all Magistrates and Judges to support her as she makes proposals for reforms, especially in the area of computerization and digitalization.

Delays in Justice delivery

The Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Torkornoo stressed the need for the public to be abreast of the various procedural and human impediments that end up delaying cases so as not to bastardize Judges unfairly.

Additionally, she reiterated his August request for the Registrars of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court not to allocate dates to cases.

She noted that this will ensure that the pending cases are fit for hearing only when they are properly ready to be heard and thus protect judges from destructive and unproductive adjournments.