ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE LADY CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, JUSTICE GERTRUDE ARABA ESAABA SACKEY TORKORNOO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE DISTRICT COURT, BAATSONAA
Source: judicial_service_of_ghana
Date: 2023-08-04

ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE LADY CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, JUSTICE GERTRUDE ARABA ESAABA SACKEY TORKORNOO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE DISTRICT COURT, BAATSONAA, ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2023 My Lords, Judges and Magistrates, District Chief Executive, Tema West Muncipal Assembly – Hon. Anna Adukwei Addo Municipal Cordinating Director - Mr. Emmanuel Kungi Nii Gbetse II – Representative of the Nungua Mantse Niimei, Naamei, Members of the Bar, Distinguished Invited Guests, The Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, Today marks an important occasion in the history of Baatsonaa and I am pleased and privileged to be here. I am particularly pleased because this has been my neighbourhood since 1992. And it is exciting for me that it is the first court that I am inaugurating as Chief Justice. I thank all of you who have made it to the occasion. I am also particularly grateful to the many men and women who have contributed in various ways to make today possible. Our country, like all nations, needs to make the law central to its development agenda. While the law may predominantly be recognized as an instrument of regulating human behavior, and dispute resolution and ill conduct, it is actually the primary tool for achieving peace, order and progress in human societies. This makes it a necessary feature of any evolving society that wants to preserve peace and foster prosperity to make law central to its mode of organizing society. Our very survival as a society therefore depends on the system of justice that we make to regulate us. It is also important to note that any system of justice, for it to be effective, must be accessible to all citizens regardless of rank or social standing, physically within the reach of those who need it and free of doubts about its integrity. Since independence, we have worked hard to fulfill all three of these conditions. Our efforts, tireless and continual, continue to increase the quality of justice, though there is so much more that needs to be done. Today, we are instilling in the Judicial Service higher standards of ethical conduct. We are demanding accountable service and integrity from all our officers around the country. As we have grown as a society, we have engineered ways in which we can assist the less well off in our society to access justice through less complex rules of court, automation of court services and provision of ADR facilities. Through judicial reforms, we are facilitating greater access to justice for the most vulnerable, including the physically challenged and those already incarcerated. I speak specifically of courts located in prisons, and ADR centers in courts around the country. Today, we celebrate another way in which we expand the frontiers of justice in our country with the inauguration of the District Court, Baatsonaa. This project is part of the nationwide construction of one hundred Courthouses programme embarked by Government in 2020 to improve judicial infrastructure. This modern Court facility has adequate office space for the various Court functions, washrooms for Staff and Court Users, Male and Female Cells, Solar power, a standby Generator, a Borehole to provide sustainable water supply for the washroom and electric fencuing to boost security. The facility has a dedicated space for Court connected ADR. This court right here in Baatsona, opens a most welcome avenue for the people of this bustling commercial and residential hub, to have justice whenever they need it. Through this Court, we will be able to ensure that fewer people have to resort to extra-judicial avenues of seeking redress and resolving disputes. Through this Court, we can allow more and more people to see justice being dispensed at close range and thus build confidence for businesses and investment in property. It is my hope that this court is able to do all that and more. And that will depend, in large measure, on the people who come to work here and come to access justice here. I urge the staff of the Judicial Service of Ghana, whose work will give meaning to the construction of this court, to see themselves as ambassadors of the Service and of the very concept of justice itself. Most importantly, understand that the Judicial Service is a public service and we are servants of the public. This should impose on you a responsibility to be honest, fair and transparent in all their dealings with the citizens who come here to seek justice. Let all who come here feel welcome and reassured that the law is here to work for and with them. Let no one feel discouraged or reluctant to use the law. We must ensure that we are not only fair and just, but are seen by all to be so, so that the people who patronize our services will feel confident in seeking redress from this building and so increase the peace and stability of our country. That is the only way in which we can ensure that the justice system operated from this building achieves the purpose for which the Constitution arranged it. I also call on all to ensure that the building is well maintained and not allowed to fall into premature ruin and disrepair. We must maintain what we have and look after what is entrusted to us. Years to come, I believe that we will gather again to inaugurate a much larger edifice as Baatsonaa becomes more and more prosperous. Let me express my gratitude to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for the successful implementation of the project and the District Assemblies Common Fund and its Administrator, Mrs. Irene Naa Torshie Addo Lartey, whose drive, enthusiasm and resources have made it possible for us to be here today. I also wish to thank Fedems Limited (Project Consultants) and Messrs Sino Africa Development Limited (Contractor) for working very hard to deliver this project according to schedule. Our gratitude goes to the Tema West Municipal Assembly and the Traditional Authorities for making land available for this project. The people of Baatsonaa thank you. Ghana is grateful. Posterity will remember your efforts. God bless our homeland Ghana. Thank you and may God bless us all. Prev Next