Chief Justice shares ideas with Togolese Constitutional Court

The Chief Justice has called for closer collaboration between the Judiciaries of West African countries to enable them to exchange ideas on the resolution of electoral disputes and deepen democracy within the sub-region.

Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood made the call when she paid a three- day working visit to the Togolese Constitutional Court.

The visit was at the invitation of the President of the Constitutional Court, Mr Aboudou Assouma.

It created an opportunity for the Ghanaian Judiciary and the Togolese Constitutional Court to share knowledge and experiences on their operations in respect to resolution of electoral disputes,  common challenges and strengthening of co-operation for the mutual benefit and the enhancement of democracy, peace and development in the two countries.

According to the Chief Justice, because conflicts in the sub-region had largely been caused by post-election disagreements, it was important for the Judiciaries of West African countries to be bold, firm and fair in their handling of election disputes to safeguard democracy, peace and security of their countries because it was the only viable route to development.

Mrs Wood was accompanied on her visit by three Justices of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Jones Dotse, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie and Justice Sule Gbadegbe.

Mr Aboudou Assouma reiterated the deep ties that had existed between the two neighbouring countries.

He said in view of the strength of Ghana’s democracy and the experience of its Judiciary in handling electoral disputes, the visit was timely as it would enable the Togolese Constitutional Court to tap into that experience to improve on its operations.

In a presentation on the Constitutional Court, Mr Aboudou Assouma, informed his guests that the Court was established on October 14, 1992, the same day that the current Togolese Constitution came into operation, and is composed of nine members appointed for a seven year period.

Source: GNA