31 October 2008
President Kufuor has urged the Judiciary to be always mindful of the public's demand for justice that is efficient, fair and effective.
He said the transparency, fairness and speed with which cases are dealt with by the courts and the effectiveness of their outcomes, are the standards by which quality of justice is measured.
President Kufuor made these remarks yesterday during the inauguration of the Judicial Service Administration Block and a Financial and Land Investment Court Complex in Accra.
The Financial and Investment Court building will house five land courts, a human rights court, an industrial (labour) court, and two courts to handle financial cases.
President Kufuor described as commendable the judiciary's efforts towards establishing specialized courts. He said it is a key strategy for decongesting the courts to help speed up the administration of justice.
He said he was confident that as the judiciary continued to pursue its comprehensive reform and modernization programme, Ghanaians would see a new and highly respected system of justice delivery.
President Kufuor said the three arms of government are inextricably linked in the discharge of their duties and as such must support each other.
To facilitate this process, he said, the Commonwealth Law Ministers have since November 2002 come out with a set of guidelines on best practices that should govern the relations between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary in promoting good governance, the rule of law and human rights.
He encouraged the leadership of the Judiciary to commit itself fully to the guidelines referred to as "Latimer House Principles" and adopt it as blueprint for enhancing accountability, transparency and integrity in the judicial system and for ensuring stability, economic growth and development within the country.
Chief Justice Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood noted that more court houses and accommodation for judges would ensure that Ghanaians had access to justice. She announced that a state-of-the-art Appeal Court building constructed in Kumasi would be inaugurated next month to help speed up the administration of justice.
She conveyed appreciation to government for the attention and support it was giving to the judiciary's infrastructure development. Mr. Joe Ghartey, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, said the new court buildings represent a strong and independent future of a Judiciary which Ghana would continue to be proud of.
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