Ghana’s judiciary says it’s committed to ensure violent free general election
The Judiciary is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that Ghana has a violent free general election on December 7 and beyond, Mr Justice Dennis Dominic Adjei, Justice of the Court of Appeal has said.
He said some preparations have been made by the Judicial Service to reduce or curb violence associated with the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections; such as the training of all Magistrates, Circuit Judges and Justices of the High Court to effectively and expeditiously handle all electoral offences that might come up before, during and after the 2016 general election.
Furthermore, the Justices of the High Court have been trained to handle all parliamentary election disputes expeditiously to achieve effective justice should some candidates decide to challenge results.
Mr Justice Adjei made these remarks in Accra at a Colloquium on Peaceful Elections in Ghana, on the theme: “Reducing the Incidence of Violence in Election 2016 and Beyond”.
It was organised by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, in collaboration with STAR-Ghana and the Multimedia Group.
He said the Court of Appeal is the final appellate court in parliamentary election disputes and by reason of that the capacities of their judges have been built.
He said the Supreme Court has also equipped itself to handle any dispute regarding the Presidential Election.
He said the Supreme Court met as a Court with some retired members of the Court and a few respectable legal academicians and legal practitioners to discuss the 2012 Presidential Election Matter and had come out with amendments to the Supreme Court Rules to ensure early disposal of future cases and it is now before the Rules Committee for discussion.
Mr Justice Adjei, who is also the Director of the Judicial Training Institute said, the Institute has been mandated by the Lady Chief Justice to ensure and promote continuing training with respect to election dispute in the country and has put things in place to execute the assignment.
He recounted that in the course of the year, all magistrates and judges in the country received training on electoral laws in the country and the judiciary succeeded in doing it with the support of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
Mr Justice Adjei said the DFID had also provided additional support to the Judicial Service to come out with a revised Election Manual to build the capacities of judges, magistrates and dignitaries, who need to be trained in electoral laws.
He said the revised Election Manual is now with the publishers and would soon be out.
Source: GNA