Ghana Judiciary Service to be fully automated

Ghana’s Judiciary has taken an ambitious step to improve the efficiency of the country’s legal system by seeking to automate all legal processes to facilitate a faster, efficient and transparent administration of justice acceptable to Ghanaians.

As a consequence, a 10-member Task Force was on Tuesday inaugurated to oversee the implementation of the e-Justice project that seeks to infuse Information Communication Technology (ICT) products into the judiciary.

The e-justice project is being collaborated by the Ghana Judicial Service and the Ministry of Communication, and would be funded with a $2 million facility provided by the World Bank.

The project would boost judicial transparency to facilitate access to a speedy, reliable and efficient justice system and enhance legal research and administration.

It would also complement the existing court automation programme to facilitate electronic filling and fast retrieval of documents, shorten processing of cases, offer concurrent access to files from different locations and better collaboration between the judiciary and stakeholders.

“We want to modernise, computerise and automate our courts and their processes, which have been ongoing but on a piecemeal approach,” said Chief Justice Theodora Wood at the inauguration of the task Force.

“We want to work efficiently and effectively to facilitate the speedy delivery and adjudication of justice,” she stressed.

Chief Justice Wood said the inauguration of the task force made up of mostly ICT experts was as a result of a recent study tour by members of the judiciary to Turkey to understudy the e-Justice system.

The Task Force is Chaired by an Appeal Court Judge, Justice Samuel Marful-Sau.

Prof Jonas Amoapim, a member of the task force said the e-justice project would enhance judiciary transparency and facilitate automation, collaboration and the efficient flow of information among key stakeholders.

Source: GNA