Recent attacks on the Judiciary and the deteriorating public trust in perhaps what is considered the dormant arm of government have necessitated the address of the public by the Chief Justice (CJ) in an attempt to bring the public closer to understanding the operations of the Judiciary and bring transparency.
The recent launch of the Chief Justice’s vision captioned, LEADing Justice (Law, Ethics, Assets, Due Processes, and Digitalization), enumerated means to make the Judiciary more effective to ensure transparency and accountability in its work.
“It is my respectful view that the Judiciary owes a duty to draw the attention of the nation to how the nation is handling matters of justice in various facets of life – Commercial justice in the way the financial sector is handling issues of interest rates and debts; social justice through cultural practices around family and inheritance; juvenile justice; and justice for the vulnerable”.
CJ, Gertrude Torkornoo
Accordingly, the Chief Justice indicated that the Judiciary needs support from the other arms of government for an increased budget, funds for infrastructure expansion for automation, and digitalization funds for learning resources, libraries, and operating resources for judges and staff.
The initiative by the Chief Justice also brought to light the need for continuous investment in the Judiciary to ensure the proper administration of justice.
The lack of proper remuneration for judges and resources to enhance the operation of the Judiciary impedes the proper administration of justice which further deteriorates the image of the Judiciary.
The call of the Chief Justice for the Executive and Legislature is therefore in the right direction. It also draws the attention of the public to the reason behind the lack of logistics in the Judiciary which leads to its delay in attending to cases and brings more understanding into the capacity deficit of the Judiciary.
Possible Side Effect
While many are of the view that the Chief Justice’s initiative is a step in the right direction as it brings the public to understand the various facets – operations, challenges, and goals – of the Judiciary, others opine that an overexposed Judiciary will threaten the neutrality of the body as persistent contact with the public is bound to influence how it conducts its duties.
“The expectation people have now is that they expect cases being heard to be discussed. I can assure them that will not happen… We must be cautious in doing some of these things. The Chief Justice has taken a bold step which I applaud but I don’t think that it will be best for her to do it often. She should get people to speak on these issues so that she being the leader comes out once in a while just to add onto it”.
Esq. Saviour Kudze
The Chief Justice’s initiative, if properly implemented, will help clear the misconceptions Ghanaians have about the Judiciary due to their misunderstanding of the workings of the Judiciary and also build on the confidence the public has in the Judiciary.
According to the 2020 Afrobarometer report, 85% of Ghanaians deem the Judiciary as corrupt and a Ghana Statistical Service report in 2021 also shows that Ghanaians perceived that the likelihood of judges taking bribes is high.
As such, the Chief Justice’s initiative will not only clear the misconceptions but gradually build back the public’s trust and confidence in the Judiciary.
Furthermore, the initiative would grant the Chief Justice and the Judiciary at large a platform to educate the public about the workings of the Judiciary and to bridge the information gap between the Judiciary and the media, and the general public.
While all these could be derived from the initiative taken by the Chief Justice to engage the public on issues that are considered of national interest, the Chief Justice and the Judiciary at large must ensure that the Judiciary’s interaction with the public does not influence its practice of the law.
Conclusively, it is imperative to ensure that the Judiciary’s interaction with the public creates avenues for transparency and accountability, however, caution must be heeded in undertaking such courses to ensure that the Judiciary remains neutral and does not become a political body like the other arms of government.
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