Effective and vital justice system essential to fight corruption – Judge Gertrude Torkornoo

General News on Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-05-29

Judge Gertrude Torkornoo, judge at the Court of Appeals, said that corruption would be controlled in the country if citizens were badured of an effective and efficient justice system that would make it possible to denounce corrupt transactions.

According to the appeal judge, corruption is less likely to flourish than confusion, making transparency an important tool in the country's justice system.

Judge Torkornoo delivered the keynote address at a stakeholder forum on anti-corruption organized by the Private Sector-led Anti-Corruption Group (PSACG) in Accra.

PSACG is a project initiated by the United Kingdom-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) and funded by the UK Department for Development's (DFID) Enhanced Anti-Corruption Program (STAAC).

PSACG's main mission is to help the private sector engage with the Ghanaian government, through the vice-president's office, to fight corruption as it negatively affects the cost of doing business and business. investment flows in Ghana.

Ghana News Bands For the latest news in Ghana, visit the Graphic News headlines page.

Theme

Expressing on the general theme: "Creating an enabling environment for private sector development; The role of the state and the private sector in the fight against corruption, "said Judge Torkornoo. The recent rules on prompt disclosure of all documents necessary for the settlement of disputes, including criminal prosecution, are essential to meet the demand for transparency in order to facilitate country justice.

Transparency, she added, would also help to prevent the use of the administration of justice for personal purposes.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Speaking on dispute resolution in the business world, she also called for the use of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process put in place in 2005 to increase ease of doing business.

She said that an observation at the Commercial Division of the High Court had revealed that policymakers were using the services of junior or subordinate officers with no decision-making power during pre-trial conferences.

As a result, she said, policymakers allowed RED's procedures to fall into the hands of their lawyers, who, she said, were not part of the process that led to the dispute.

"It has often been found that some lawyers do not even have the sensitivity required to divert cases from litigation.

"This has done much to reduce the effectiveness of the pre-trial settlement initiative, and has even led many to believe that it is unable to fulfill its mission," she said.

Land and property rights

Regarding land and property rights, Torkornoo J. emphasized the need for proactive measures to address land issues so as to pay special attention to conflicting property and claims.

Until this is achieved, she said, the justice delivery mechanism would continue to be handicapped to make effective and final justice in land title claims and execution of judgments for creditors.

"If citizens demand enough clarity, transparency and accessibility of property archives, most hot spots will be removed," she said.

Speaking on infrastructure, Judge Torkornoo said that despite the "continued investment" in infrastructure development in the judicial sector, the technological networks needed to connect justice systems nationwide , as well as their administrators and their users, were a challenge.

She urged the business community to help the public service solve its problems by questioning and providing inputs to solve them.

Round table

Later, a panel of five people spoke on the role of the state and the private sector in the fight against corruption to create an enabling environment for private sector development.

Panellists unanimously called for effective collaboration between the private and public sectors to fight corruption at all levels of governance.

They cited corruption as a major impediment to private sector growth by discouraging free and fair competition in the market and undermining investor confidence.

Speakers were the Executive Director of Ghana's Integrity Initiative, Linda Ofori-Kwafo; Technical Advisor to Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr. Henry Yentumi, and Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Addison Bright Sloane, a consulting firm, Ms. Victoria Bright.

Others were executive director of Peverett Maxwell, a consulting firm, Leticia Adu-Ampoma, and outgoing Dean of GIMPA Law School, Ernest Kofi Abotsi.