By: Anita Kwapong
The Judicial Service of Ghana in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, deployed a Virtual Court System.
The quest was to ensure that the Court system does not grind to a halt. It came as a life transforming mode for the people who were in dire need of justice. In all, 138 courts were selected nationwide for the Virtual Court System.
One hundred and five Video Conferencing Sessions were carried out last year and for this year, 290 sessions had been carried out as at this month, while an advanced booking of 28 virtual court sessions are in place for December this year.
This came to light at the 13th Annual Chief Justice’s Forum organized in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
Correspondent Anita Kwapong reports that the Chief Justice Forum was initiated by the former late Chief Justice, George Kingsley Acquah in 2004 to bring all the relevant stakeholders together to discuss the state of justice delivery and the improvement necessary to create freedom and bring justice delivery to all people in a timely and efficient manner.
It is also a way for the Judicial Service to provide information on its activities to the public to foster greater understanding of its processes and institutions so as to improve transparency and trust to the public.
Another objective of the forum is to boost access to justice and the constitutional hierarchy which is the cornerstone of the country.
The 13th Chief Justice’s Forum brought together traditional authorities, security services, Faith-Based Organizations, Commerce and agency, Ghana Bar Association, the Media and academia.
The Chief Justice, Justice Anim Yeboah outlined measures adopted during the peak of the COVID 19 pandemic in their quest for change in justice delivery.
President of the Ghana Bar Association, Yaw Acheampong Boafo commended the Judicial Service for being innovative in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring that justice delivery did not come to a halt.
”The outbreak of the pandemic brought out a genuine way for the judiciary to deliver justice to people outside the traditional Court.
Director of ICT at the Judicial Service of Ghana, Noble Nutifafa spoke about measures put in place to ensure sustainability of the Virtual Court.
The Konor of the Manya Krobo Traditional Area, who is also, President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, Nene Sakitey asked the Judicial Service to continue to expand the frontiers of justice delivery by opening up access to more citizens and ensure that the law becomes a natural resource for people in search of resolution and justice.
