The Centre for Legitimacy and Rule of Law (CLRL), a non-governmental civil society organisation in Ghana dedicated to promoting justice and constitutionalism, has indicated that although the government failed to heed advice against passing the Tribunal Bill, the law has been enacted and the nation can only hope for the best.
Executive Director Richard Nii Armah stated that citizens can only trust that the tribunal will operate in accordance with the law.
While critics argue the tribunal system is historically tied to abuses from the AFRC and PNDC eras—sparking fears of political victimisation and “kangaroo justice”—Mr Nii Armah posited that the public must monitor its implementation before assessing its impact.
Speaking in an interview on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he stressed: “We are no longer in the military era, and so the operationalisation of the tribunal may not take the shape or form of the previous one. We can only give them the benefit of the doubt, allow them to operate, and then when the need be, we criticise. So to some extent, let’s allow them to operate and see where it takes us.”
He reiterated that whilst the organisation supports judicial reforms that align with the supreme law of the land, the Attorney General’s narrative—that tribunals are the definitive remedy to fast-track case adjudications—is fundamentally flawed.
He argued that creating new judicial structures is an exercise in futility when between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of Ghana’s existing 450 courts are currently operating without substantive sitting judges.
The CLRL referenced a widening vacancy gap created after the Chief Justice promoted 40 Magistrates to the Circuit Court bench in January without deploying replacements to the affected District Courts.
This deficit, the group noted, has forced several judges to take on unsustainable, relieving duties across two or three different courts, drastically diminishing their performance and well-being.
Mr Nii Armah maintained that inadequate funding remains the primary constraint behind the Judiciary’s inability to recruit sufficient personnel. He asserted that the new tribunal system will heavily strain the public purse, as it constitutionally demands full-time judicial salaries for chairpersons and sitting allowances for panels of private citizens.
“The tribunal will not solve existing problems we currently have in the judicial system in the immediate term. We don’t have existing structures to house those who would work in the tribunals,” he said.
“If the claims made about the tribunals were indeed the case, we could have used the resources in establishing them to expand the courts. We currently have about 450 courts nationwide, but about 80 existing courts are without substantive judges. When cases appear before these courts, we have to bring in judges from elsewhere to preside. An example is the Achimota District Court, where the Kwabenya District Court judge is forced to come to the Achimota Court to work. So if delays were the reasons for the tribunals, then they are not justified. Aside from that, the logistics and tools for the judges to work with are not in existence. These are major issues that should have been considered,” he added.
Meanwhile, he has advised authorities to exercise extreme caution when appointing individuals to serve on the tribunals, stressing the need for people of high integrity and immense wisdom.
“If we can erase the concerns people have about the tribunals, we need people with enormous wisdom and not just knowledge of the law. It should be an opportunity for us to have people whose work will inspire confidence and not doubt,” he concluded.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana