The Chief Justice (CJ), His Lordship Justice Anin-Yeboah has called on staff of the Judicial Service to exhibit a high level of professionalism in the discharge of their duties to promote and protect the good image of the service.
According to him, despite the fact that the core function of the court is enshrined in legal matters, the work of the court is also service driven, where respect to patrons must not be undermined.
Justice Anin Yeboah was speaking at the commissioning of a court complex at Asesewa, in the Upper Manya Krobo district of the Eastern Region recently.
According to the CJ, construction of the court complex was in fulfilment of the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936), which says the provision of court houses and accommodations for judges and magistrates is the responsibility of the district assemblies.
The project is part of courthouses and accompanying residential facilities for Magistrates being built nationwide by the government, through the District Assembly Common Funds.
According to the Chief Justice, in order for democracy to thrive, there should be an efficient and viable judiciary therefore with the support of the government, the deplorable state of existing physical infrastructure, as well as the obsolete equipment and technology for the operation of the court, will be a thing of the past.
“Concrete measures have been instituted to fix the infrastructural and human resources needs to improve efficiency and rich the adjudication process, these and many others in the pipeline are geared towards providing an enabling environment for access to justice, the rule of law, transparency and speedy administration of justice to thrive”
He continued that, “These reforms among others seek to remove the barriers of distance, which impact negatively on justice delivery when farmers and our brothers and sister have to travel very far to access justice.
“We are not only bringing justice closer to the doorsteps of the people within this area, but also ensuring that justice delivery is done in a more congenial atmosphere”.
His Lordship, Justice Anin-Yeboah expressed gratitude to the President of Ghana and the Administrator of Common Fund for his current consideration and priority attention to the infrastructural needs of the judiciary.
In his welcome address, the District Chief Executive for Upper Manya Krobo, Joe Sam, stated that chapter 11 of the 1992 constitution mandates the judiciary to exercise judicial power and administer justice at the court, and it is the responsibility of the district assemblies to provide the needed court infrastructure.
The DCE reiterated that the vision of the Chief Justice to decentralise the justice system in the country and to change the old dilapidated courthouses to a world-class and client-oriented service will ensure that justice is served at the doorsteps of the people.
He was confident that the facility marks a new beginning to relegate to history the error in which the nation lacked courthouses in the right numbers to serve the justice needs of the people.
On his part, the President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and also the Konor of Manya Krobo Traditional Area, Nene Sakite II called on traditional leaders and residents of his traditional area to use the court system to address their grievances instead of resorting to violent retaliation.
Nene Sakite II said the new court will resolve their problems regarding any legal issues hence residents must make a conscious effort to make good use of the court to settle all issues relating to chieftaincy, lands or family issues and other criminal cases.
“This court will resolve problems, if you get any legal issues, come to the court – don’t sit home and fight over anything, if you cannot resolve it anywhere this is the place for you to come for justice.
“Don’t fight your neighbours, don’t go trying to kill each other over issues that can be resolved amicably, we are peace-loving people.
“If for one reason or the other, there is an issue that cannot be handled in the family today, I have commissioned a court for you to settle legal issues”.
