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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Very wise King. Speak for the downtrodden
Ghana is really working again,freedom of speech at play. We might not like the outcome of the " delta force" but that is the law. Nana, we appreciate ur concerns.
A brave call,Otumfuo. We should be objective and question what is wrong and I think you have done that. Fundamental to the sustainability of every democracy is the rule of law and a fair justice delivery system. All are equal before the law and the law must apply at all times and to everybody equally.That judgement was ridiculous and to add insults to injury the culprits didnt even pay a dime as the fines were taken up by their so-called sponsor: chairman wuntumi!
there are reasons why persons would get a lighter sentence than the other even though the opposite looks obvious. there are instances where those who commit rape could get a live sentence but the one who commits murder with a gun could get 5 years. please do not site examples where your competence is limited. this is an issue of law. what are you doing about the various violent crimes in the Ashanti Region?
People like you make me sad....you guys should be ashamed of yourselves,R u really Ghanaians?
Please do you understand the enormity of disrupting a court process and releasing culprits on trial from the dock? This can't be compared to threats to the Chief Justice as she is not the court. Her office was not threatened, and moreover whatever the threats were, they remained a threat and what was the outcome of that case? The guys were sentenced to 3 months in prison and were made to pay about GHC10,000 and the directors of the Radio stations paid over GHC20,000. Granted they received Presidential pardon, they still served a month each in prison. It is high time we stopped seeing Ghana as for NDC and NPP, and make things work else God save us. Kwame I think people like you should do more reflection on your activities and your wishes for our beloved Motherland. Ghana does not belong to NDC and NPP. Good people of our country should begin to speak up.
Nana you have said it all, what is wrong is wrong. the ruling please the NPP so they are quite. The monster will hunt them big time one day
i always Ghana can never move forward in total development in all sectors of the economy when we have people who think and act like Sammy and kwame with npp and such judges in our court of justice. sorry for such people
When former President Mahama released the Montie trio who threaten the Chief Justice where was the Asantehene. He should give us a break. The Fulani menace at Agogo what has he as the asante overlord done about that.
The King Should give us a break, When did he become a judge, He should respect the Rule of Law and we can also respect him as a King