The Member of Parliament for Suame, John Darko, has argued that the government has failed to justify the need for the recently passed Tribunals Bill, insisting that the reasons advanced for re-establishing lower tribunals can be addressed through reforms to Ghana’s existing judicial system.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue, Mr. Darko said the Minority examined the memorandum accompanying the bill and concluded that it did not make a compelling case for creating a new layer of courts.
According to him, the government’s arguments that tribunals would help clear the backlog of cases, speed up the delivery of justice and increase public participation in the judicial process do not warrant the establishment of new tribunals.
“One of the things they stated was that the tribunal system was going to clear the backlog of cases at our various courts and that the current structure was slow and that cases delay in our courts. They also stated that the tribunals will handle some criminal cases and galamsey.
“We thought through it, reading the memorandum, we saw that they hadn’t made a case for the establishment of the courts,” he said.
He argued that if the government’s objective is to reduce delays in the justice system, it could instead expand existing courts, appoint more judges and introduce reforms to improve efficiency.
He said courts can already sit on a day-to-day basis under the current judicial framework and suggested that afternoon sittings, the construction of additional courts and the deployment of technology could significantly reduce case backlogs.
“If we are truly minded to get our courts to sit day by day and finish cases early, we can do that. There is nothing in our current structure that prevents a court from adjourning a case to the next day,” he stated.
The Suame MP also maintained that greater public participation in the justice system could be achieved by expanding Ghana’s jury system to cover more criminal and civil cases rather than creating new tribunals.
He further questioned the constitutional basis for the bill, arguing that existing lower courts already perform the functions the proposed tribunals are expected to undertake.
Mr. Darko concluded that the government had failed to identify any deficiency in the current judicial system that necessitates the creation of new tribunals.
“The government has not convinced us, me as a Ghanaian, that we really need the tribunals. Because there is nothing they have shown us which is broken in the current system for which this one is going to fix. And as the Americans say, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” he said.
Parliament passed the Tribunals Bill to re-establish lower tribunals as part of Ghana’s judicial system. The government has argued that the measure will improve access to justice, expedite the trial of selected criminal cases, including illegal mining offences, and help reduce the backlog of cases before the courts. The bill is currently awaiting presidential assent.
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