President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana has justified the ap-pointment of the 16 new Justices of the Court of Appeal, saying it is a direct response to the backlog of cases, which has become a challenge to the court system and the establishment of new courts across the country.
Speaking at the swearing in of the 16 newly appointed Justices of the Court of Appeal at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo said that the backlog of cases had indeed become a burden that required urgent attention from the courts and improving the number of judges was one of the very critical measures to deal with it.
“The significant expansion of the personnel of the Court of Appeal, occasioned by the appointment of these 16 new Justices of the court of Appeal, is a direct response to the challenge of an overburdened court system,” he said.
The Ghanaian Times report on Thursday quoted President Akufo-Addo as saying that it was imperative that innovative solutions were found to expedite the resolution of cases and ensure that justice was delivered in a time¬ly manner.
“This will require not only effi¬cient case management, but also the adoption of new technologies and practices that can stream our judicial processes,” the President said.
According to him, the Chief Justice, who is responsible for the administra-tion of the judiciary, had decided, with the support of the Judicial Council, to establish permanent panels of the Court of Appeal in five locations.
These locations, he said, com¬prised, Sekondi to cater for appeals from Central and Western regions, Koforidua to handle appeals from the Eastern, Volta, and Oti regions, Kumasi to cater for appeals from Ahafo, Bono East, Western North, and Ashanti regions.
President Akufo-Addo explained that there would be one in Tamale to cater for appeals from the Upper West, Upper East, North East, Savan¬nah, and Northern regions, but heard through a virtual link in the Kumasi Court of Appeal and in Accra to cater for appeals from the Greater Accra region.
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President Akufo-Addo justifies swearing in 16 new judges
