The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has questioned the quality of justice delivered in the sentence handed members of the pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) vigilante group, the Delta Force, when the court slapped only a fine on the convicts.
He wondered if justice was served in that ruling and asked: “If even it has been served, the question may be asked whether the quality of justice was served.”
The Asantehene, who was speaking at the 16th Annual Chief Justice Forum in Kumasi on Monday, asked: “If someone steals a goat and is fined GH¢5,000 and additionally slapped with a jail term, how can people who invade a courtroom, overpower the security, release suspects and put the life of the judge and staff in danger be fined only GH¢1,800 and be discharged?”
“If such judgements came from the courts, how can you prevent people from questioning the quality of justice delivered by our judges?” he asked.
Bad lots
Otumfuo Osei Tutu, who was delivering the keynote address on the theme: “Quality judges delivering quality justice”, remarked that it would take only one case or very few cases for the quality of justice to be thrown to the wind.
“I hope and pray that by the end of this forum, the exact ramifications of quality justice will be more meaningfully appreciated, so that we can all be witnesses to the realisation of the theme of quality judges delivering quality judgements,” he stated.
It would be recalled that 13 members of the Delta Force were convicted by a district court last month for conspiracy to riot and rioting and fined GH¢1,800 each.
They were also to sign bonds to be of good behaviour for 12 months or in default go to jail for 12 months.
That was for their involvement in the fracas at the Regional Coordinating Council early this year over the appointment of Mr George Adjei as the Regional Security Liaison officer.
Quality justice
According to the Asantehene, quality justice was an essential component of the rule of law, saying that by convention “judicial activity is assessed by reference to the inherent quality of judicial decisions, namely, the quality of their reasoning and the dispatch with which those decisions are delivered”.
He said the quality of justice was what citizens felt out of litigation, their wishes and their aspirations, adding: “Quality of justice cannot be considered in the abstract; it must necessarily be related to the people for whom justice is delivered.
“We are at the receiving end for whom justice is intended to serve. It is the standard of the beneficiaries of justice that the quality is measured. Whether what the judge does in his delivery functions is qualitative or not is determined by us the beneficiaries.”
Consequently, he suggested that the people on whose behalf justice was being administered must always be taken into account, adding: “To ignore us amounts to failure to deliver justice because you cannot judge yourselves.”
“Whatever benchmarks you establish in pursuit of quality justice, prominence should be given to the expeditious disposal of cases, for ‘justice delayed is justice denied’,” he stated.
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice, Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, noted that reforms in the justice system were too important to be left to lawyers and judges alone.
“To create and build a good justice delivery system, the people it serves have to be intimately involved,” she stated.
She said the theme for the 2017-2018 Legal Year had been chosen to enhance the critical standards for judges in the administration of justice.
She said it was one that elicited thought about the qualities and failings the justice delivery system or the Judicial Service needed to focus on and deal with, adding: “Both the public and the professionals have views on the theme from their own personal experiences or based on reactions to shortcomings in the judicial system.”
Those failings, according to Ms Justice Akuffo, included the slowness, cost, remoteness, complexity, resulting in an apparent lack of transparency, trust and public confidence.
“I am of the strong conviction that whether storm-battered or weather beaten, it is still a justice system around which a modern justice system can be rebuilt. We have come a great distance towards finding real solutions to the challenges in our judicial system,” she stated.
Source: Daily Graphic
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Eiii KING SOLOMON,you could not talk on ELECTION PETITION, THE MISSING GOLD, THE $350000 AND THE MONTIE 3 HMMMMM. BUTNOW CAN TALK ON THE DALTA FORCE HMMM EMEREDANE.
The Ashantehene aka Kweku Dua is the biggest hypocrite and a master kreminal and a laughing stock of all time ; an evil and wicked man involve with English freemason ; a man involved in money laundering and stilling from his people today has the guts to comment about the DElta Force ; an NDC patriotic full who thinks he has any tangible comments to make about judicial decisions ; who does this idiotc Ashantehene donkey think he is fully ; what did he say about the election petition of yester years ; and what he say about the montie 3; what are your comments about the making the gareden city clean rather than him stilling monies and selling gold abroad using Ibrahim Mahamas jet ; massa just keep your dirty BUUTS shut because we all know as Kreminal and a thiff .
Nana could have advise in a better format than this public show. The case is moreover months now so why now NANA? Could it be true that you are anti-Akufu Addo?
you have not answered how you manage to take 350,000 thousand pounds abroad in Cash when it simply takes a mobile phone or internet to transfer such large amounts of cash. how did you generate all this cash? dont let me guess. justice also means that you do things properly so that the institutions and the country benefit appropriately. where did you get all that cash from? and how did you convert it into foreign currency. did you use the banks or a local money converter (gawgaw).
The judicial service need to be overhaul to make level playing field, as it stands now The Biased Ghana Bar Association who only see and hear evil when NDC is in power are seriously sleeping and having intercourse with the ruling party, Justice Dotse and others so politically biased in his public pronouncement,the the current Chief Justice rewarded for wicked and ***barred word*** judgement against Montie journalists is now sleeping on the job. I mean no ham but if you like charge me for 1ddiot contempt.
Please Otumfuo stay out politics. This is non of your business. Did you comment on montie 3? Why this one.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, you have done very very well. You are the King Solomon of our time. I pray that God will give you more wisdom. The chiefs in the Country should stand up to the truth and tell us in the face when we are wrong. Our institutions have been corrupted by politicians and nobody is challenging them. Our chiefs and opinion leaders what are you doing?. The free education and its related event lives a lot doubts in our mind though louder able.
Oh Massa gallaway,go and arrest them and prosecute them...why do u have to re-visit this issue again....fior !!!
YOU WERE IN GHANA WHEN JUSTICE ATUGUBA PASSED A SHOCKING JUDGMENT ON ELECTION PETITION, A LOT OF THINGS CAME OUT YOU DIDN'T COMMENT. VICTORIA HAMMA CAME OUT THAT OYE LITHUR PLAYED A KEY ROLE TO BRIBE JUDGES, YOU DIDN'T COMMENT,SO WHY NOW?
Ahhhhhh, manka! Daily Graphic na wo be twerew, na hwan? NDC people parading like neutral journalist!