As part of measures to demystify the work of the Judiciary, the Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo has asked court users not to make payments to judicial service staff in return for a favourable trial. 

She said corruption and corruption-related activities had blurred the image of the service, making it normal to pay monies before a case could be determined.

Justice Torkornoo gave the advice as part of her Community Sensitisation Programme on the theme: “Improving Justice Delivery through Community Engagement.”

The initiative is to demystify the work of the Judiciary and inspire confidence in the office she occupies by directly engaging with the people to assure them of openness and fairness in justice delivery at all times.

It is to strengthen the trust and confidence of the participants in the Judiciary by providing information on its functions at the local and district level.

It is also to educate the people on the existence of the Public Complaints Unit among other interventions by the Service to make justice delivery transparent.

She said there was a whole 'market' around the system, where court staff collected monies from unsuspecting court users under the pretence of giving it to the trial judge to turn cases in their favour.

She said in many cases, trial judges had not asked for these monies, and they might not be aware of the request from the staff.

The Chief Justice said some of the staff had practiced this for a long time and that, it had become a norm for them - destroying the hard-earned reputation of the Service.

She called on the public to help the leadership of the Service to weed out the bad nuts from the system by reporting them to the Police and the Judicial Service.

Justice Torkornoo, who spoke in Twi to the understanding of the communities of Kraboa Coaltar and Akwatia, explained that court users needed to know the proper jurisdiction of the cases and they should understand court processes and procedures.

She said sometimes people, who send their cases to the court, may have good a case but because of insufficient evidence, they would end up losing the case.

She, therefore, urged all litigants to effectively arm themselves with sufficient evidence to prove their cases in the court of law.

The Chief Justice also said it was also important for court users to pay attention while in court, explaining that most of them just after the first court appearance leave everything in the hands of their lawyers.

“Please, pay attention to details, while in court and develop the interest to follow up on your cases while trial is ongoing,” she added.

She said the Judicial Service is open to receiving public complaints and that her Office received not less than 10 petitions daily.

The Chief Justice said the Judicial Service would soon come out with court user guide that would explain the jurisdictions of the various courts.

She said they would be made available at all Court buildings so that the public could access them, and the Service would soon post on the premises all Court fees for the various services provided to ensure transparency.

The Chief Justice encouraged court users to adopt the Courts-Connect ADR process in dealing with cases because it was effective in promoting peaceful co-existing and helped to preserve relationships.

She cautioned those interested in the ADR process not to pay money to any of the mediators, since they are paid by the government.

She urged Bailiffs not to give citizens the extra burden of paying money to them, adding that they could leave the job if they are not ready to work.

 So far, the programme has been organised in six communities, three in the Greater Accra Region, namely Baastonaa, Ada and Kwabenya, with the rest in the Eastern Region — New Abirem, Akwatia and Kraboa Coaltar.