Judicial Service to inaugurate new courts next month

The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Theodora Wood, has said the Judicial Service will inaugurate new circuit courts in June this year to facilitate the administration of justice.

The expansion of court infrastructure, according to her, would create an opportunity for the Judiciary to extend the frontiers of justice to Ghanaians.

Mrs Justice Wood said this at the swearing in of 28 new magistrates in Accra yesterday. New courts 

The  courts are located at Amasaman and Ashaiman in the Ga West and the Ashaiman municipalities, respectively.

The Chief Justice also said new district courts would be operational soon at Teshie, Weija, Prampram and Kasoa in the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipality, Ga South Municipality, Ningo Prampram District and the Awutu Senya East Municipality, respectively.

“In addition, three district courts are to be established at Asokwa, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. We commend the municipal authorities of these communities for providing the needed infrastructure to house these courts,” she said.

Mrs Justice Wood appealed to the municipal authorities to include accommodation for judges in their plans to resource the Judiciary, as required by law. Advice to magistrates

The Chief Justice told the magistrates that they were under duty to ensure that people who accessed the courts were treated with respect and dignity, in line with the laws of Ghana.

“In the same vein, it is incumbent on you that you maintain high standards of integrity, while conducting yourselves above reproach, so that the name of the Judiciary is not brought into disrepute,” she said.

Mrs Justice Wood asked the magistrates to observe proper conduct and avoid all manner of impropriety, saying that “propriety conduct, among others, implies excellent judicial comportment, honour and dignity”. Impartial and civil

In a speech read on her behalf, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Marietta Oppong Brew, charged the magistrates to be impartial decision-makers in the pursuit of justice.

She said the magistrates must be courteous, considerate and civil to all persons who would appear before them in court. Delays in court 

The President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nene Amegatcher, also advised the magistrates to be punctual and diligent when performing their duties, “particularly in the delivery of rulings in interlocutory applications and of judgments after trial”. 

He also told the magistrates to avoid delays in their courts and also disregard all frivolous and unwarranted requests by lawyers for adjournment to prevent a backlog of cases.

Welcoming the magistrates into the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG), Ms Justice Elizabeth Ankumah, who represented the association, appealed to the magistrates to remember the rights of juveniles when dealing with juvenile cases.