‘Court Reporters Need Regulation’

Supreme Court judge nominee, Justice Janapare Adzua Bartels-Kodwo, has raised a strong case for enhanced collaboration between the judiciary and media institutions to curb misreporting of court proceedings.

Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 the nominee expressed concern over sensationalised and inaccurate media coverage of court cases, which she said distorts public understanding of justice.

“People have to learn how to report. We have judicial media persons, I believe, but sometimes they don’t report exactly,” she stated, noting that media misrepresentation could damage the credibility of the judiciary. “But I think it’s a learning process.”

Justice Janapare Adzua Bartels-Kodwo proposed that the Judicial Training Institute (JTI) be engaged to provide capacity-building training for journalists on court reporting.

She stressed the importance of understanding the boundaries and responsibilities of journalism in the legal arena.

“Maybe we can have some further regulations that will make the media or the journalist realise that the fact that he has a microphone, or the fact that there is ink in his pen, or the fact that he has a keyboard that has an enter stroke, does not mean that he can just go to town,” she said pointedly.

She suggested that if concerns about judicial-media relations are channelled to the office of the Acting Chief Justice, structured engagements with media houses could be arranged to promote responsible reportage.

“I believe that can be done in collaboration with the JTI, and if it is brought to the attention of the office of the Acting CJ, that certainly can be arranged.”

Gender equality

On the subject of gender equality and representation, the Justice of Supreme Court Nominee struck a cautious tone. While affirming her commitment to the empowerment of women, she rejected the notion of affirmative action that prioritises tokenism over competence.

“I am a woman, but I don’t believe in affirmative action for affirmative action’s sake. If women are just put anywhere for the sake of it and they go and they don’t perform, it is we, the women, who get the flak,” she declared.

Instead, she advocated for deliberate investments in mentorship and skill development to prepare women for leadership roles.

“I believe in mentoring young girls, bringing them up, building capacity, encouraging them to gain the heights,” she said, underscoring her belief in a merit-based approach to gender empowerment.

Backlog of Cases

In another sharp divergence from conventional views, Justice JanapareAdzua Bartels-Kodwo questioned the prevailing assumption that the backlog of court cases can be resolved by simply constructing more courtrooms. According to her, systemic inefficiencies, rather than infrastructure deficits, are at the heart of the slow judicial process.

“If we are just talking about more claims court, I believe that the court as we have it now, we have the space for those small claims, and setting up more courts in my view respectfully will not solve the problem of cases not moving fast,” she argued.

Justice Bartels-Kodwo, however, does see value in technology—not in buildings, but in knowledge. She passionately advocated for continuous judicial education to stay abreast of modern technological and societal trends that are increasingly shaping legal challenges.

She recalled her experience as a Circuit Court judge presiding over a case of “revenge porn”, where a man circulated intimate photos of his ex-girlfriend.

The case, she explained, initially proved difficult because the judiciary had little precedent on such digital crimes at the time.

“Somebody shared a picture of his former girlfriend… a nude picture of his former girlfriend with other people,” she recounted. “The girl was in mental agony and the difficulty in apprehending the young man showed how the legal system had to catch up.”

Thanks to new electronic laws and improved police investigative tools, the perpetrator was eventually apprehended and prosecuted, she said. The case, she noted, highlights the urgent need for judges to adapt to evolving digital realities.

“I share the view with you that these are modern and new trends, and we all have to learn, especially the judges, because the society is ever-evolving, and these things will catch up,” she stressed.

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