The piloting of a ‘Court Shift System’ which is geared towards optimizing the use of existing court resources to reduce the volume of caseloads at the Courts begins today.
Eight selected Courts effective today Monday, March 25, 2024, would be sitting from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm in the first and second sessions respectively.
The eight courts piloting the shift system are;
- High Court’ 1′, Adentan
- High Court ‘2’, Adentan
- High Court 1, Amasaman
- Circuit Court, Weija
- District Court, La
- District Court, Teshie
- District Courts A&B, Madina
- High Court, Nsawam
The Shift System, according to the Judicial Service, is necessary due to over 600 backlogs of pending cases in some of the courts.
In a circular signed by the Judicial Secretary, Justice Cyra Pamela C. A. Koranteng, on March 14 and a subsequent press statement on March 19 announcing the introduction of the Court Shift System by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, stated it will be piloted in eight Courts effective March 25.
“The rationale for the Court Shift System stems from the fact that findings from a physical count of dockets undertaken in all Courts nationwide demonstrated that a number of identified Courts have huge caseloads with some in excess of 600 pending cases,” the circular to staff of the service stated.
Both the Circular to Staff and Statement to the public explained that the morning shift will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. while the afternoon session runs from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo in the Circular expressed the hope that its implementation will reduce the backlog of cases in the specified courts, improve accessibility to justice for citizens by offering flexible court hours that accommodate diverse schedules, and enhance the overall effectiveness of the judicial system.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Murtala Inusah
