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The Supervising High Court judge in Brong-Ahafo, His Lordship Justice Francis Opoku, has described sleeping in filthy cells with toilet pans by detainees, as �acts and conditions which detract the dignity and worth of a person as a human being.� According to him, detainees live day to day in painful and anxious suspense, attributed the sordid situation to choked prisons, and overcrowded police cells, because of inadequate facilities. Justice Opoku, who was opening the Criminal Assizes in Sunyani yesterday, did not spare his own colleagues for contributing to the problem, adding that judges, who remand accused persons in custody for even misdemeanors, or without the presentation of facts by police prosecutors, amount to travesty of justice. According to him, the attitude of some judges contributes in a large measure to the delay of cases in court, alleging that unprepared judges overdulge litigants and lawyers for unnecessary adjournments, on flimsy excuses. He charged judges to report for duty regularly and punctually, indicating that delays in judgement writing and lack of case management were some for the attitudinal behavioural change expected to ensure expeditious justice. The Supervising High Court judge reminded judges of their duty in a capital offence, reiterating that murder was a capital offence, and once the trial of an accused person has been opened, defense counsel in the proceedings was not only bound to appear, but bound to perform his duty to his client. According to him, any counsel involved in capital cases shall be present in court throughout the hearing, and conduct the professional skill at his disposal, adding that once a counsel accepts instructions in a capital case, he/she is expected to give it priority over all other engagements, however important or lucrative they may be. Justice Opoku revealed that several murder and 1st degree felony cases had been pending before the district courts for over ten years, and yet no efforts were being made to bring the accused persons to the appropriate forum to stand their trial. He appealed to the Chief State Attorney in the region to liaise with the police investigators in charge of those cases to remedy that sad state affairs, which according to him, was an indictment on the judicial administration of criminal justice in the country. The Supervising High Court Judge noted that the records were available for collection and scrutiny by the police investigators and the Attorney General�s Department for appropriate and prompt action, since it is provided by the 1992 Constitution that any person accused of any offence, including murder, must be tried without reasonable time, or be released on bail. �Let us not lose sight of the fact that the prisons are choked, and the police cells are crowded because of inadequate facilities,� he stressed. The Brong Ahafo Regional branch of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), on his part, pleaded for residential accommodation for the state attorneys, so that those sent to the region would stay to help, not only in the prosecution of criminals cases, but advise the Regional coordinating Council (RCC). The Regional Chairman of the GBA, William Orleans Oduro, who made the appeal, revealed that the region had five state attorneys, out of which three are women, but the problem confronting them is accommodation. According to him, the Attorney Generals Department used to have three bungalows, but the RCC had taken one of them, leaving only two. The Region GBA branch President commended the government for the automation of some courts in the country, but expressed concern about the situation at the High Court �1�, saying �it�s not fast at all.� He said the machine at the High Court �One� picks the evidence or submission, and after the officials have to listen and transcribe, thereby slowing down proceedings, however the High Court �3�, which is not automated, is faster than the semi-automated system at the High Court �1�.