ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE LADY CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, JUSTICE GERTRUDE SACKEY TORKORNOO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE CIRCUIT COURT, KWABENYA, ON FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2023
Source: judicial_service_of_ghana
Date: 2023-08-04

ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE LADY CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, JUSTICE GERTRUDE SACKEY TORKORNOO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE CIRCUIT COURT, KWABENYA, ON FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2023 Hon. Chairman, My Lords, Judges and Magistrates, Municipal Chief Executive, Ga East Municipal Assembly The Hon. Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya Niimei, Naamei, Members of the Bar, Distinguished Invited Guests, The Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to be here with you this morning to inaugurate this beautiful, brand new court house, the Circuit Court, Kwabenya for the people who live and work in this bustling community and its environs. I thank you all distinguished personalities for joining us to share in this happy occasion. This court house which is purpose built is a most welcome development for this municipality and could not have come at a better time. The old Circuit Court, housed in a residential property rented by the Ga East Municipal Assembly, for which the Judicial Service is grateful, could no longer fully cater for the justice needs of the Municipality, hence the need for a new Court. Ladies and gentlemen, our country, like all developing countries, needs to make the law central to its development agenda. While the law may predominantly be recognized as an instrument of regulating human behaviour and punishing ill conduct, it is also just as importantly, a tool for dispute resolution. This makes it a necessary feature of any evolving society that wants to preserve peace and foster prosperity. Our very survival as societies depend on the system of justice that is available to us. And by available, I mean in the sense that it must be free from corruption, accessible to all citizens regardless of rank or social standing and also physically within the reach of those who need it. Since independence, we have struggled to fulfill all three of these conditions. Our efforts, tireless as they are, have not brought us the success that we crave. Nevertheless, that is not to write off our attempts as failures. Today, we are instilling in the Judicial Service every 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 our judicial reforms, we are facilitating greater access to justice for the most vulnerable of our compatriots, including the physically challenged and those already incarcerated. Today, we celebrate another way in which we expand the frontiers of justice in our country with the inauguration of the Circuit Court, Kwabenya. 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 for essential load, standby Generator, and Borehole to provide sustainable water supply for the washroom and electric fencing to boost security. The facility also has a dedicated space for Court Connected ADR, and is equipped with a Direct Transcription System (DTS) to facilitate the adjudication process. This court right here in Kwabenya, opens a most welcome avenue for the people of this thriving 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 and inspire trust. 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 in it. 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. This should impose on them 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 what it represents. That is the only way in which we can ensure that the building achieves its purpose of being. It is also my hope that the building is well maintained and not allowed to fall into premature ruin and disrepair. While we hope for more, we must maintain what we have. Years to come, I hope that when we gather here, it will be to inaugurate a much larger edifice and not to mourn a crumbling piece of architecture that endangers those who work in it and repulses those who might need it. In concluding my address, I would like to place on record once again, our 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. Our gratitude also goes to the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission for graciously releasing land for the project and the Ga East Municipal Assembly and in particular the Hon. Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, for facilitating the process. We are also grateful to all our other distinguished invited guests for taking time out of their busy schedule to be here with us today. It is my pleasure at this juncture to declare the Circuit Court, Kwabenya duly inaugurated. May this Court be a blessing to all, especially its users and may they find and experience true justice in this court. I thank you all for your attention. Prev Next