A US-based law professor is encouraging authorities and leadership of Ghana legal system to consider revamping their operations.

Professor Richmong Frimpong Oppong says it is about time Ghana's legal system must embrace information technology (IT) to enhance their operations.

"..to date, while the state has enacted various legislation and policies to address some of the existing societal challenges, there remain significant gaps that the Ghanaian legal system must address.

Accordingly, as the Ghanaian legal system approaches its sesquicentennial, (150 years anniversary) it should embrace information technology to advance its functions and goals."

This is one of the topics the professor will be speaking on at the annual J.B. Danquah Memorial Lecture slated for Monday, 21st to Wednesday, 23rd February, 2022.

This year's lecture which is under the theme, "This year’s will focus on the theme, “The Digital World and The Future of The Ghanaian Legal System: Reflections Ahead of Its Sesquicentennial”, will take place at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Science in Accra.

The lecture will focus on consumer protection in the digital market place and new ways of working organised labour through digital platforms-two areas characterized by asymmetric legal relationships.

The annual lectures have touched on many topics that has exposed in-depth knowledge and thought-provoking discussions in the bid to advance the Ghana’s socio-politico and economic wellbeing.

As one of Ghana’s most celebrated young and international legal luminary, Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong shares his thoughts on this year’s theme.

As a people, we have become accustomed to the ever-increasing benefits of our technologically mediated lives. We live in a digital world. Engagement with digital devices, social media platforms, and online commercial transactions have become commonplace for many of us.

The overall theme of the three lectures is that, like individuals, legal systems are not immune to the impact of information technology and the digital world it has created.

The Lecture

The lecture is divided into three parts focusing on technology, access to justice deficit in Ghana and the last one is on the legal practice and education.

The first will explore how information technology challenges the Ghanaian legal system’s regulatory functions. It argues that, to date, while the state has enacted various legislation and policies to address some of the existing societal challenges, there remain significant gaps that the Ghanaian legal system must address.

The lecture will focus on consumer protection in the digital market place and new ways of working organised labour through digital platforms-two areas characterized by asymmetric legal relationships.

The second lecture examines the access to justice deficit in Ghana. It argues for a broader conception of access to justice, explores leveraging digital technologies to create new pathways to justice in Ghana, and examines the risk of digital exclusion and threat to judicial independence inherent in such technologies.

The final topic of the lecture will examine legal practice and education. It argues that information technology can transform legal practice and education in a manner not witnessed since the inception of the Ghanaian legal system. The lecture will examine ways in which legal practice and education can adapt to the digital world.