By Beatrice Oppon
Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkonoo, outlining her vision to improve justice delivery in Ghana said part of her vision is to ensure that staff of the Judicial Service receive paralegal training.
She said materials have been developed and provided for with some staff already undergone training. She said the staff are expected to help the bench deliver justice effectively and their knowledge in the law is important in that regard.
Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkonoo said the paralegal training is not limited to only Judicial Service Staff, but also other professionals including police investigators, prosecutors and mediators who supplement the Court’s work with alternate dispute resolution services, external court service providers such as process servers, valuers, surveyors, financial experts and auctioneers.
The Chief Justice said she is determined to change the tags of corruption, ineptitude, and inefficiency around the Judiciary and Judicial Service of Ghana.
She said the training needs to be supplemented with consistent culture-changing strategies to deepen ethical models of work in the courts. She noted further that a practice direction has been developed to increase transparency, competence, due process and integrity in the work of the court.
She also called for partnerships to develop effective programs for culture change and other interventions that will increase ethical models of work in the Judicial Service.
Chief Justice Torkornoo underscored the importance of digitalization in the judicial process. She called for urgent need to build a modern archive center to store all records emanating from the Courts in a coherent and orderly manner that can be easily retrieved whenever Court users need their records.
The Chief Justice called for partnership to accelerate the vision outlined to promote the cause of justice delivery.
She commended the Ghana Bar Association for its relentless support for the judiciary and the Judicial Service.
