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Madam Justice Gertrude Torkornoo at the presentation of the thesis of Judge Sophia Adinyira at the New Year School of
A judge of the Supreme Court, Judge Sophia O.A. Adinyira advocated the fiscal independence of the judiciary in order to make it truly independent and robust in order to deliver justice in accordance with the law.
She added that the executive's control over the budget of the judiciary and the fact that the executive had not honored the financial requirements of the executive had affected the functioning of the judiciary branch of government.
She stated this in a document submitted on her behalf by Judge Gertrude Torkornoo, Judge at the Court of Appeal, at the conference and the New Year's conference being held at the University of Ghana, at Accra, last Tuesday.
His subject was: "Judicial and Democratic Consolidation.
Funding
Judge Adinyira said that the judiciary's financial dependence on the executive branch has made it difficult to strengthen the capacity of its human resources to strengthen democratic governance.
"Until now, the executive has respected the judiciary, but the problem is related to financial independence because the budgetary requirements are not fully met.
As a result, the Judicial Training Institute continues to rely on donor support to train judges and build their capacity to make them more effective, "she said.
She said that it was important to rise to the challenge of building a strong judiciary, able to deliver justice without fear of any form of interference.
Mistrust
Judge Adinyira said that although the judiciary has lived above reproach and protected the rights of all kinds of people, it was worrying that the public seemed less and less suspicious.
To reverse this situation, she called on relevant public institutions, in particular the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), to join the judiciary in raising public awareness of the role of this government body.
She added that in order to strengthen the judiciary of the government, steps must be taken to establish strong courts capable of providing impartial justice.
Cost of justice
Mr. Kofi Abotsi, a lawyer, said that since the Ghanaian judiciary was a masterpiece to withstand the test of time, the cost of justice was a problem.
"Efforts are being made to expand access to justice, but legal fees remain high.Judicial costs go to the state and become a form of taxation.
This means that justice is taxed and that is a problem, "he said.
He added that a new paradigm should exist that would allow court costs to be withheld and corroborate the idea that it was necessary to put in place a system to remove the budget from the courts. judicial power to the control of the executive.
"If the judiciary still has to go to the Ministry of Finance to get a budget, political interference will be introduced because of the principle that the person who pays the piper calls the melody," he said. He underlines.
Appointment
Regarding the appointment of judges, Mr. Abotsi stressed the need to badume this responsibility on the part of the president, adding that "we are now at the point where the judiciary should exercise control over the appointment of judges ".
He added that such a measure would not only help to control the politicization of the judiciary but would also improve the quality of the justice system.
Mr. Abotsi stated that the lack of implementation of court decisions and judgments was also worrying.
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