Chief Justice Getrude Sackey Torkornoo has expressed concerns over the volumes of land cases that are thwarting the development of mother Ghana.
According to her, something critically needed to be done about land disputes in the country to avoid discouraging potential investors from establishing their businesses in the country.
“You will agree with me that the high counts of land cases are not good for investment in our country. Both domestic and external, young people need that assurance that when they buy land nothing will go wrong,” she stated.
Addressing the Judicial Press Corps (JPC) at the Law Complex in Accra last week Thursday, Justice Torkornoo vowed to take personal interest in tackling the issue.
She singled out land cases out of several others, including criminal and commercial cases, that the Judicial Service has successfully built database on.
Justification
The CJ commented on some of the controversial cases the Supreme Court has handled in recent times that have brought her leadership under severe scrutiny, particularly from the Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Among these cases is that of Rockson Dafeamekpor’s application, which was unanimously thrown out by the SC for lacking merit and abuse of judicial process.
The CJ justified why she granted the Attorney-General (A-G) Godfred Yeboah Dame’s request to expedite the hearing of the application that challenged the approval of ministerial nominees.
According to the CJ, A-G wrote to her outfit stating that the matter before the apex court concerns governance and giving that Easter break was approaching, the case needed to be handled expeditiously.
Mrs. Torkornoo further added that the Supreme Court was also going to sit on that Wednesday 27th March, 2024 and after being satisfied that hearing notice had been served on parties, the suit was added to the list of cases to be heard on that day.
According to her, when the case was called, the affidavit indicating proof of service was on the docket and they knew all parties had been served so nothing could stop the hearing.
She repeated that the feedback from the court bailiff gave her the impression that the applicant was not interested being served in the action he initiated.
She did not, however, comment on Speaker Bagbin’s letter to her on Richard Della Sky’s application before the Supreme Court on LGBTQ+ Bill.
Position in the judicial service
The CJ has also justified the appointment of judges into key positions of the judicial service.
According to her, very soon all key positions in the service will be occupied by lawyers and individuals with legal backgrounds.
She said the service needed people with understanding of the law to handle issues concerning legal matters.
Court of Appeal sitting
Hopefully from this month, she said, there will be reopening of the Court of Appeal sittings in the various regions of the country to enhance justice delivery.
As it stands now, Court of Appeal is only accessible in Accra and Kumasi, therefore, making it difficult for disputed parties from other regions to access them.
In effect, the Court of Appeal in Kumasi, through virtual means will take care of the regions in the North and the West north.
Western and Central regions Court of Appeal sittings will take place in Takoradi, while Eastern, Oti and Volta regions will be in Koforidua.
