A fellow of CDD-Ghana and renowned legal scholar, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, has argued that persistent delays in Ghana’s judicial system are not the result of judicial laziness but evidence of a deeply broken system that requires urgent structural reform.
In a commentary on accountability and justice delivery, the legal scholar maintained that the slow pace of justice in the courts is largely a design failure rather than an individual failing, warning that continued inaction risks eroding public confidence and weakening national accountability.
Professor Asare noted that complaints about court delays have become routine across Ghana, cutting across litigants, lawyers, businesses, and civil society. However, he stressed that public discourse often misdiagnoses the problem.
According to him, judges are frequently blamed for inefficiency, yet the conditions under which they operate make delays almost inevitable and unavoidable.
“Files get lost. Cases are adjourned endlessly. Courtrooms sit idle by 2 p.m. Simple cases compete with complex ones. And delay is a business model. This is a design problem.”
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, CDD-Ghana Fellow
The CDD-Ghana fellow argued that addressing the growing backlog of cases does not require constitutional amendments or extraordinary interventions. Instead, he proposed that a set of practical and common sense reforms could significantly improve efficiency if implemented with seriousness.
He emphasized the need to separate straightforward cases from complex litigation so that minor matters are not trapped in long procedural queues. He also called for courts to operate in shifts, noting that allowing courtrooms to sit unused for large portions of the day wastes scarce judicial infrastructure.
Adjournments, he said, must be limited, with firm sanctions imposed on parties and lawyers who deliberately use delay as a tactic. According to Professor Asare, digitizing court records is essential to prevent files from disappearing and to ensure continuity in proceedings.
He further proposed that once a trial begins, sittings should be held daily to maintain momentum, rather than being stretched over months or years. Retired judges, he suggested, could be engaged temporarily to clear long standing cases, while mediation should be encouraged early for disputes that do not require full trials.
Setting Clear Timelines for Case Completion
Beyond procedural changes, Professor Asare highlighted the importance of setting clear timelines for case completion and tracking court performance. Publishing data on how courts perform, he argued, would introduce transparency and accountability into the justice system itself.
Central to his reform agenda is fixing the court registry, which he described as the silent bottleneck in the entire process. Without an efficient registry system, even the most hardworking judges would struggle to deliver timely justice.
“Our courts today are like a broken borehole. We complain that the water does not flow regularly. When it flows, it is only for a few hours. Then we queue again tomorrow. We cannot solve this problem by buying sachet water or arguing about shortages. Complaints don’t fix boreholes.”
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, CDD-Ghana Fellow
He argued that complaints alone cannot fix broken systems. What is needed, he said, is a one time investment to repair the structure. For the courts, this means putting proper digital systems in place, fixing registries and service of processes, and organizing court usage through shifts and better scheduling.
Once these foundational issues are addressed, he believes justice will flow consistently without constant crisis. Responding to concerns about the cost of reform, Professor Asare posed a counter question, asking whether Ghana can afford not to fix its courts.
He argued that the financial benefits of an efficient justice system would outweigh the initial investment. According to him, recovering the value from even a single major land dispute could fund extensive reforms.
Faster Corruption Trials
Faster corruption trials would enable quicker recovery of stolen assets, while shorter cases would reduce the cost of remand and security. Predictable justice, he added, deters future violations and encourages business investment, since investors prefer environments where contracts are enforced reliably.
Professor Asare stressed that the issue goes beyond efficiency and touches the heart of accountability. He argued that slogans against corruption do little to change behavior if punishment is uncertain or delayed.
When cases drag on for a decade, the implicit message is that wrongdoing carries little risk. However, when justice is swift and fair, behavior changes across society. For this reason, he described court reform as the engine room of accountability rather than a side issue.
In his conclusion, the CDD Ghana fellow emphasized that fixing the courts should not be viewed through a political lens. Instead, it is a national choice about whether Ghana wants a justice system that works.
He argued that clearing existing backlogs, preventing new ones, and restoring confidence in the rule of law would ultimately pay for themselves. In his view, justice delivered on time is not only fair but economically and socially beneficial to the nation.
READ ALSO: BoG Slashes Policy Rate to 15.5% as Inflation Crashes
