Let Judicial Council Appoints Judges

By Abigail Annoh

Private Legal practitioner, Mr Kofi Abotsi has made a strong case for the appointment of judges in the country to be done by the Judicial Council and not the President.

According to him, the move was necessary to ensure independence of the judiciary and retain public confidence in the justice delivery system.

"We must turn attention to the appointment of judges and how we have gone about this in the past. It is a common refrain among lawyers now to decry the quality of judges at our courts which is underpinned by the model of appointment."

The politicisation of appointments must be checked and the Judicial Council must take this up so that judges do not appear to be looking at the law through the lens of expectations of the Executive," he stated.

Addressing participants at the ongoing New Year School at the University of Ghana, Legon, Mr Abotsi observed the critical role the judiciary played in sustaining relative peace and upholding the country's democracy and noted that the seeming 'executive interferences' in the system could spell doom for gains made if not curtailed.

He cited instances where political parties have either flouted or swept under the carpet court rulings on "politically sensitive" matters calling for the building of a robust council and systems to address the challenge.

On the issue of access to justice delivery services, Mr Abotsi urged that the law courts were made easily available to the citizenry while boosting the human resource in the area, adding that, "filing fees and generally all factors that create the impression that justice in Ghana is taxed must be removed."

"I think people pay too much in this country to access justice. It seems justice delivery is now the preserve of the rich and we must have a relook at it," he advised.

"Government must ensure there is fiscal independence of the judiciary such that our proposed budget is not touched to allow the service run its operations efficiently to promote peace and justice," he added.

A Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Gertrude Torkonoo delivering a speech on behalf of Justice Sophia Adinyira, a Justice of the Supreme Court further stressed the need for financial independence of the judiciary as the service was presently underfunded.

She pointed out that the budgetary support to the service was never met and what was approved, never released on time, a situation which was in clear contravention of Article 127 (6) and undermined the administration of justice.

"We believe a sound and healthy judiciary with a sound fiscal independence is an invaluable asset for turning the nation around" and enable citizens appreciate the work of the judiciary.

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