Deteriorating assessments of Ghana’s Judiciary

Ghana’s Judiciary must respond to the deteriorating assessments of the institution in various good governance indices and surveys.

For example, over 10 rounds of the Afrobarometer survey, two things have become clear about how Ghanaians feel with respect to the courts – a) a decline in the level of trust between 2012 and 2024 by as much as 22 percentage points and b) an increasing perception of corruption by as much as 10 percentage points.

In Afrobarometer Round 10 (2024), only 13 per cent expressed “a lot” of trust in the courts with another 22 per cent saying they “somewhat” trust.

 On the question of corruption, when asked “How many of the following people do you think are involved in corruption or haven’t you heard enough about them to say?

 With respect to judges and magistrates, 44 per cent answered “most/all of them.” Very troubling!

On the back of the Afrobarometer and the deteriorating perceptions of the Judiciary comes the report (October 2024) from the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG).

This is work done by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation going back to 2007. The assessments of the Judiciary are not very positive and reinforce what Ghanaians have expressed in the Afrobarometer survey. 

This op-ed piece analyses the publicly available data between 2014 and 2023 and highlights some disturbing trends for our Judiciary.

The Ibrahim Index: The Big Picture

One of the major categories of the index focuses on security and the rule of law. Embedded in this category is a rule of law and justice sub-category with several dimensions and indicators.

On the rule of law and justice, which the index describes as “assessing compliance with the rule of law by the Executive, the impartiality of the judicial system, judicial processes (including access, affordability, due and fair process, timeliness and enforcement), equality before the law, law enforcement, property rights, as well as the public perception of the rule of law” the country’s score declined significantly from 75 per cent to 60 per cent between 2014 and 2023.

On all the seven areas that constitute the rule of law and justice subcategory, the country experienced declines across all of them, some more significant than others, as follows – a) Executive compliance with the rule of law (-1.4); b) Impartiality of the justice system (-27); c) Judicial processes (-14); d) Equality before the law (-17); e) Law enforcement (-22); f) Property rights (-11) and g) Public perception of the rule of law (-12).

Drivers of decline

A probe of the several indicators across this category reveals significant declines. Some of the biggest drivers of the overall big picture are – a) Judicial autonomy (-50); b) Appointment of judges (-50); c) Functioning criminal justice system (-43); d) Equal treatment before the law (-33); e) Perceived equal treatment before the law (-29); f) Impartiality of the justice of system (-27); g) Due and fair process (-21) and h) Timeliness of criminal justice (-19).

There are declines in other areas that call into question the justice system and how well it protects citizens and the extent to which it holds law enforcement officials accountable. Here are some examples – a) Right to privacy (-38); b) Absence of civil society repression (-15); c) Freedom of assembly (-25); d) Absence of government violence against civilians (-14); e) Access to justice (-15); f) Enforcement of civil justice (-14); and g) Enforcement of criminal justice (-19).

These are but a few examples of the areas of decline.

However, they represent areas with the most significant decline. How much further decline should these good governance surveys and indices show before the signals are treated with urgency?

Thinking of their role in our governance architecture, these signals must be of concern to the Judiciary and spur immediate action.

Please note that the full index and scores across all measures and indicators are publicly available by visiting https://iiag.online/data.html

Way Forward

As I keep arguing, the greater burden of stopping the decline being witnessed across our institutions lies primarily with its custodians.  This is where I would again draw attention to the LEADing Justice reform launched in April 2023 by the current Chief Justice.

At the heart of the reforms are five key components - Law, Ethics, Assets, Due Process and Digitalisation.

 The reform effort could not have come at a more opportune time. I have studied the document and it holds promise for reshaping and improving the Judiciary, especially in the administration of justice.

The deteriorating assessments of the judiciary present us with an opportunity to change the trajectory in a more positive direction. But we first must acknowledge the urgency of the moment.

It is time for the Chief Justice to draw public attention to and rally all stakeholders once again behind the LEADing Justice reform effort.

The writer is the Project Director, Democracy Project