The Acting Director of the Ghana School of Law, Professor Raymond Atuguba, has underscored the urgent need for Ghana’s judiciary to adopt technology as a central pillar of justice delivery.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana on Wednesday, October 1, Prof. Atuguba said the transformation must begin with the judiciary’s own infrastructure and facilities, alongside deliberate investment in digital literacy across the legal system.
“We all know, as the theme of your annual meeting suggests, that we need to leverage technology to enhance justice delivery,” he said. “This immediately implicates changes in attitudes, skills, knowledge, and the intuitive recognition that we need to move forward with technology-driven systems of justice.”
He cautioned, however, that embracing change is not always about rushing forward. Sometimes, he argued, it requires stepping back to ensure reforms are properly grounded. “For example, the use of technology must start from the faculties if justice delivery is to be hinged on it. And the use of technology must animate the entire body of court rules, not be overlayered on it,” he noted.
Beyond technology, Prof. Atuguba urged judges to remain mindful of the sacred nature of their role. In his words, “Being a judge makes you a mini God. There is only one ultimate judge for the world. That judge is ‘Odomankoma’ (translating as God in the Akan language). But ‘Odomankoma’ does not come down from heaven to administer justice on earth. And so he has many gods called judges, who administer justice on earth on his behalf.”
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He stressed that when judges lose sight of this higher calling, they risk undermining their essence. “The day you forget your role as a mini God, as a co-participant with God in the administration of justice on earth, that day you lose your essence as a judge,” he warned.
Prof. Atuguba also called for a return to the authentic meaning of law, justice, and honour, arguing that there is growing public concern about the state of Ghana’s justice system.
“Today there is growing concern that what lawyers and judges put into the court’s crucible is not law but something else,” he said. “There is growing concern that what the courts serve from the crucible is not justice but something else. And that the profession is no longer honorable.”
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He cautioned that once public trust in the judiciary is lost, the institution risks collapse: “The day we lose the trust of the people from whom our Constitution says justice emanates, that day we lose our essence. And that day we perish in substance, although the forms of our wigs and flashy clothes and Porsche cars will live on as mere forms.”
Prof. Atuguba concluded by urging the judiciary and legal community to take these concerns seriously and act with urgency to preserve both the credibility of the justice system and the trust of the Ghanaian people. “We badly need to work on these concerns with utmost urgency,” he said.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
