Adopt ADR to solve issues rather than the courts - CJ
The Chief Justice, Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, has urged citizens to adopt the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to resolve issues rather than resorting to the traditional court system.
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That, she said, was to help reduce the time and financial cost incurred by individuals when they sought to resolve issues through the traditional court proceedings.
Justice Torkornoo explained that most individuals who tended to seek justice were most of the time physically and emotionally drained, thus opting for ADR for issues such as disputes could go a long way to reduce the burden on such individuals.
She further advised them to avoid paying unauthorised fees or giving money in forms of tokens to judicial officers to help them with cases as it was unethical.
“All judicial officers are paid by the government hence it is very unethical to pay any amount of money to judicial officers. Apart from filing fees no individual is obliged to pay any amount to any officer”, Justice Torkornoo emphasised.
Event
Justice Torkornoo was addressing residents of Ayawaso Central in Accra last Wednesday as part of a community sensitisation programme.
Embarked under the initiative of the Chief Justice, it was to help demystify the operations of the judiciary and instill confidence by engaging directly with the public while assuring them of transparency and fairness in the delivery of justice at all times.
It was to also strengthen the trust and confidence of the people in the judiciary by providing information on its functions at the local and district levels, while educating people on the existence of a Public Complaints Unit, among other interventions by the service.
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It was under the theme “Improving justice delivery through community engagement”.
Justice Torkornoo had earlier inaugurated a modern District Court for the Ayawaso Central Municipality as part of efforts to improve the access justice delivery by quipping most municipalities with district courts.
Courts
The Chief Justice noted that the court was established through the District Assemblies Common Fund as part of a project by the government to build over 100 courts and 150 bungalows for the judiciary.
She noted that in recent years, the judicial system had undertaken reforms by incorporating measures such as the computerisation and automation of courts.
These efforts aim to establish effective and accountable institutions at all levels, advocating justice and equal rights for all.
Justice Torkornoo, therefore, urged the judicial officers to exhibit a high level of professionalism in the discharge of their duties as she called on citizens to take advantage of the facility as the first point of justice to right wrong and correct offences.
Timely
The Municipal Chief Executive of the Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly, Archibold Amuasie Cobbina, stated that one of the hallmarks of civilised societies and a prerequisite for peace and development was ready access to courts well equipped to dispense justice among its citizenry.
Thus the inauguration of the court was timely in addressing the major challenge the municipality had faced in the dispensation of justice and the unavailability of courts to administer justice timeously whenever the need arises.
Mr Cobbina therefore gave the assurance that the municipality would put in place all the necessary mechanisms to ensure that the first ever court within the municipality was properly maintained to serve the purpose for which it was built.