Court Processes To Be Served Via Social Media Platforms - Chief Justice

The Chief Justice Sophia A. B. Akuffo on Wednesday said the judiciary intends to amend the rules of the court so that court processes could to be served via social media platforms such as WhatsApp.

“These will allow us bring the much needed pairing of speed with efficiency to our processes. It will however require all of us to become conversant with these new technologies to enable us properly and adequately employ them,” Mrs Akuffo stated in Accra.

Ms Akuffo said the judiciary would undertake the requisite sensitization to that effect.
The Chief Justice stated at the opening of the Association of Magistrate and Judges of Ghana’s (AMJG) 38th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Accra.

The two day meeting is on the theme: “The Independence of the Judiciary, the way forward”.
The occasion would afford members the opportunity to adopt the Association’s reviewed Constitution and discuss other matters relating to their welfare.

Justice Akuffo told the Judges and Magistrates to also use the AGM to reflect deeply and meaningfully on the expectation of the public and the quality of justice delivery.

According to her, the survival of the state depended on the confidence the people have in the various institutions of state, especially those that have to do with law and order.

She said if citizens knew that crime would be punished, they would not see the need to take the law into their hands whenever for instance a thief was caught.
The Chief Justice was not enthused with some procedural lapses and misapplication of the law on the part of some judges and magistrates.

She was of the view that the trend did not convey to the public that judges and magistrates administer with independent and knowledgeable minds.

“I hope that the coming year will see marked improvement in the quality of justice dispensed in our courts…. And there will be mood satisfaction and celebration of our joint efforts,” she said.