SPEECH DELIVERED BY THE HONOURABLE LADY CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, JUSTICE GERTRUDE SACKEY TORKORNOO, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SMALL CLAIMS DEBT RECOVERY COURTS Date: Tuesday, 6th August, 2024 Venue: District Court, La
Source: judicial_service_of_ghana
Date: 2024-08-17

SPEECH DELIVERED BY THE HONOURABLE LADY CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, JUSTICE GERTRUDE SACKEY TORKORNOO, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SMALL CLAIMS DEBT RECOVERY COURTS Date: Tuesday, 6 th August, 2024 Venue: District Court, La The Judicial Secretary Your Honours and Worships The Honorable Municipal Chief Executive for La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly The Chairman, Bills MicroCredit formerly known as Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd. Mr Richard Quaye The Director, Bank of Ghana, Mr Yaw Sarpong Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen Thank you all very much for accepting to be part of the introduction of this initiative into the modes in which Judicial Service administers justice in accordance with the needs of the nation. We are gathered here this afternoon for the launch of the Small Claims and Debt Recovery Courts. Since my assumption to the role of Chief Justice, I have been committed to determining the exact needs of every court and how to address the particular needs, so that the experience of court users will match up with the expectation of receiving justice through court procedures. We recently began to notice a significant increase in the number of small claims filed in the District Courts of the Ghana. This fact was confirmed by the returns presented on physical count of cases in District Courts across the country. An analysis of this development revealed that the spike in case load of small claims was the result of thousands of new cases filed by a company called Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd for the recovery of debt. In order to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the issue, the Quality Assurance Unit and the Monitoring Department of the Judicial Service sampled seven (7) District Courts in Accra – Adenta District Courts 1 &2, Teshie District Court, Sowutuom District Court, Ashaiman District Court, Weija District Court and Gbese District Court – to determine the quantum of the claims in order to find a solution to the increasing caseload of the courts. The findings in the data were telling. In Adenta District Courts 1& 2, the total active cases pending as at May, 2024 stood at 773 cases. Out of this number, Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd alone had filed a total of 120 cases representing approximately 15% of the total active cases pending in the court. The data further revealed that over 70% of the total cases filed by Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd were for claims less than GH₵5000. This picture in Adenta was similar to the situation in the other five District Courts that were sampled. While the company’s share of active cases pending before these courts varied from 14%, 19%, 22%, 39% to as high as 43% of the case load in the sampled courts, the common theme in the data was clear – over 70% of the total cases filed by Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd in all these seven courts were for claims less than GH₵5000. This development significantly increased the volume of cases before the typically loaded calendars of most of the District Courts under review. It also affected the situation of the District Courts currently operating the pilot Court Shift System which was introduced by the Judicial Service in March this year. These were courts that were already grappling with huge caseloads, hence their inclusion in the Court Shift System, to reduce the backlog of cases, improve accessibility to justice by offering flexible court hours which accommodate diverse schedules and enhance the overall effectiveness of the judicial system. With the increase in the caseload of small claims filed by Quick Credit therefore, we saw a real threat of defeat of the goals of the Court Shift System unless the new circumstances were responded to with appropriate measures. Distinguished guests, after constructive engagement between the Judicial Service and the leadership of Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd., and in the true spirit of public-private partnership for the promotion of the ultimate ends of justice, a solution was designed and it is this solution that has found expression in this afternoon’s event here at the District Court, La. The Small Claims and Debt Recovery Courts which will initially operate on a pilot basis, would cover a total of 12 courts, eight (8) in the Greater Accra Region and four (4) in Ashanti Regions. The courts will sit every working day in the afternoons and on Saturdays. The courts will sit from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm on working days and 8:30 am to 4:00 pm on Saturdays. For the Greater Accra Region, District Court, Ashaiman, District Court, Teshie, District Court, Kasoa and this court, District Court, La, will operate as the Saturday courts while District Court, Weija, District Court, Sowutuom, District Court ‘2’, Adenta and District Court, Gbese will operate as the weekday afternoon courts. For the Ashanti Region, District Court ‘2’, Asokwa and District Court ‘1’, Prempeh Assembly Hall will operate as the Saturday courts, while Circuit Court ‘2’, Asokwa and Asokwa Circuit Court Conference Hall will operate as the weekday afternoon courts. It is our expectation that with the launch of these Small Claims Debt Recovery Courts and cooperation of citizens, and the businesses involved, the nation can confront head-on and in a speedy manner, the challenge of the nearly 55,000 claims that Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd alone has expressed the intention of filing in the Lower Courts,. It is to be noted that though Quick Credit may have provoked this initiative, the courts are a national asset open to adjudicating claims from all financial institutions, in order that the time value of liquidated claims are not eroded by delays in the courts. Indeed, the provision of Saturday courts have been operational for several years now, and serve primarily the needs of national agencies that need to recover sums of money from significant numbers of citizens and businesses such as SSNIT. It is this already existing template that is being used for the small claims0 courts. We recommend Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd for accepting to support the operation of these 12 pilot courts to enable them to perform their constitutional duty with speed and efficiency, just as SSNIT has supported the operation of Saturday courts for years. I encourage all micro finance companies that require support of increased services to inform the Office of the Judicial Secretary to enable these extra hour courts to effectively serve the needs of the whole nation. On this note it is my singular honour and pleasure to declare the Small Claims Debt Recovery Courts duly launched in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions of Ghana. May God bless us all and add his blessing to this initiative. I thank you for your attention. Prev Next