Chief Justice (CJ) Getrude Sackey Torkornoo has vowed to change the tag of corruption, ineptitude and inefficiency that had become an albatross around the neck of the Judiciary and Judicial Service.
In order to shake off these tags, she noted, training needed to be supplemented with consistent culture changing strategies to deepen ethical models of work in the courts.
Judicial administration must also close the gaps through which court users are subjected to exploitation and rent seeking behaviour.
This, she said, demands the removal of as much of the human inter-facing that court work is exposed to.
Chief Justice Torkornoo was speaking at the launch of Law, Ethics, Assets, Due Process and Digitisation, Law (LEADing Justice)’, which is her vision for the judiciary in Accra, yesterday.
She told the gathering that court officials are expected to work with independence, with impartiality, competence, and integrity.
However, much of these ethical values are lost in the heavy traffic of human inter-facing between court officials and court users, including unknown brokers functioning around the courts.
The vision for producing culture-changing re-orientation programs cannot be achieved without the active partnership and support of stakeholders, including communities of businesses and donors.
“Indeed as we speak, steps are being taken to revert to the opening and closure of assizes, which ensured that jurors remained with the judiciary for only a short season.
“The current situation where one juror can be attached to the courts for years, leaving their full time work for long periods and earning from both institutions through the same public purse, needs to be seriously deconstructed.
“In order to do so effectively, this vision contemplates the engagement of the private sector in jury services, as is the situation in virtually every country. I wish to humbly ask for the cooperation of the private sector in implementing strategies such as this, because we need to increase the ethical contents of integrity and efficiency in criminal justice delivery”, she said.
“Court officials are expected to work with independence, with impartiality, competence and integrity. Much of these ethical values are lost in the heavy traffic human inter-facing between court officials and court users, including unknown brokers functioning around the courts,” she said.
The chief Justice also reiterated her concern about the way the courts have been overwhelmed with land related cases.
“In a few more weeks, I intend to call a Land Conference for discussion on the huge numbers of land disputes streaming across all regions of our country.
“What is causing so much litigation over land, when land is the most effective source of equity and capital for business and prosperity?
“Could the high cost of doing business in Ghana be related to the incessant litigation over land? How are we affecting the peace index of the nation, through this high volume of land litigation? “What must we all do differently?
As administrator of justice on behalf of the citizenry, I deem it my bounden duty to call for such conversations that will assist us all to break these high walls against the easy flow of capital and investments into our country because of the uncertainty of security of investment in landed property.”, she revealed.
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