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Efficient, fair and
effective justice for Ghanaians - Kufuor
Accra, Oct. 30, Ghanadot/GNA – President John Agyekum Kufuor has
urged the Judiciary to be always mindful of the public’s
demand for justice that was efficient, fair and effective.
The transparency, fairness and speed with which cases were
dealt with by the courts, and the effectiveness of the
outcomes, he said, were the standards by which quality of
justice was measured.
President Kufuor made the call when he inaugurated the
Judicial Service Administration Block and a Financial and
Land Investment Court Complex in Accra on Thursday.
These edifices come as big relief to the country’s judiciary
bedevilled with severe accommodation shortages for decades.
The Administration Block was started about a decade ago
while the Financial and Investment Court building to house
five land courts, a human rights court, an industrial (labour)
court, and two courts to handle financial cases, took a year
to complete.
President Kufuor described as commendable the judiciary’s
efforts towards establishing specialized courts.
This, he said, was a key strategy for decongesting the
courts and to help speed up the administration of justice.
He said he was confident that as the judiciary continued to
pursue its comprehensive reform and modernization programme,
Ghanaians would see a new and highly respected system of
justice delivery.
President Kufuor said in the discharge of their respective
functions, the three arms of government were inextricably
linked and as such must support each other.
To facilitate this process, the Commonwealth Law Ministers
have since November, 2002, come out with a set of guidelines
on best practices that should govern the relations between
the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary in promoting
good governance, the rule of law and human rights.
He encouraged the leadership of the judiciary to commit
itself fully to the guidelines referred to as “Latimer House
Principles”, and adopt it as blueprint for enhancing
accountability, transparency and integrity in the judicial
system and for ensuring stability, economic growth and
development within the country.
Chief Justice Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood noted that more
court houses and accommodation for judges would ensure that
Ghanaians had access to justice.
She announced that a state-of-the-art Appeal Court building
constructed in Kumasi would be inaugurated next month and
conveyed appreciation to the Government for the attention
and support it was giving to the judiciary’s infrastructure
development.
Mr Joe Ghartey, Attorney General and Minister of Justice,
said the new court buildings represented a strong and
independent future of a judiciary, which Ghana would
continue to be proud of.
GNA
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