The Minister for Justice and Attorney- General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has led his office to save the nation a staggering Ten Trillion Ghana Cedis in Judgement Debts for the country, after contesting every civil lawsuit brought against the state.
This was disclosed by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 when he presented a message on the State of The Nation, in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution. “The Attorney-General has continued, in a very effective manner, the tradition under this administration of contesting every civil litigation against the state and has avoided the numerous Judgement Debts that used to be given
against the state.
The Office, as a result, has saved the country over Ten Trillion Ghana Cedis (GH¢10 trillion),” President Akufo-Addo said. While highlighting the good work the Attorney-General had done, President Akufo-Addo indicated that in a few weeks’ time, he would commission the Law House.
He said it is a 12-storey office building that will house the offices of the Attorney- General and his Ministry, a facility that will end the age-old office accommodation problem.
He declared a personal interest in the project, as the building was started when he was Attorney-General in the government of President John Agyekum Kufuor, back in 2001.
On the Judgement Debt payment, President Akufo-Addo informed Parliament that evidence was available to satisfy the curiosity of Ghanaians. Continuing his reporting on the progress being made in the administration of justice, President Akufo-Addo also said that this past year, a total of 76 judges and magistrates were appointed.
He said unprecedented progress has been made in the provision of court buildings and residences for judges around the country. He recalled that in 2020, the government set out to construct 100 courthouses with residential facilities nationwide. He reported that, as of January 31, 2024 – 67 courthouses had been successfully inaugurated and are in use at various sites around the country.
Also, 12 completed projects have been slated for inauguration by the end of this month and the remaining 21 projects, he said, are at various stages of completion and are expected to be completed and inaugurated before May 2024. In addition, 121 residential units have been constructed for judges throughout the country. Further, twenty fully furnished 4 bedroom units, together with social amenities have been constructed for Justices of the Court of Appeal in Kumasi.
The project, he said, is not complete yet, but enough had been done to be able to say that they have resolved the problem of the disgraceful state of court buildings.
He said the attention now is the digitalisation process of the courts to modernise the entire system, which has commenced. He added that a virtual court system was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the continuity of business.
The virtual court system was rolled out to 17 courts, and then, subsequently, to 19 High Courts for the smooth hearing of court cases. According to the President, by the end of December 2023, 160 courts had been equipped with devices for the realtime transcription of cases, in addition to 51 courts piloting the paperless court system in Accra.
“The integration of real-time transcription devices in one hundred and sixty (160) courts has revolutionised the way in which court proceedings are recorded and documented. The service is rolling out a comprehensive digitalisation of the court system,” he remarked.
