Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, has launched major reforms to improve the efficiency of Ghana’s jury system as the 2025 criminal assizes officially opened across the country.

Speaking at the opening ceremony held at the Law Complex in Accra, the Chief Justice announced that the list of eligible jurors has been greatly expanded to include a wider group of Ghanaians, especially from the private sector.

“Over the years, and strangely, the justice sector seems to have become constrained only to a small pool from which jurors were chosen. This pool seems to have become confined to clerical staff in the civil and or public service institutions, and in a few instances, officers from the education sector,” she said.

She noted that this practice had led to some jurors serving in several trials over many years, turning them into “almost professional jurors, and not the lay group with fresh exposure to legalities that they were needed to be.”

Under the reforms, the Judiciary aims to include all citizens qualified by law.

“Jury lists have been expanded to include all citizens qualified by law, including many individuals in the private sector,” the Chief Justice stated.

She cited Section 208 of Act 30, which disqualifies any person convicted of treason, felony, or an offence involving dishonesty from serving as a juror unless they have received a free pardon. She also highlighted concerns about the yearly revision of juror lists under Section 213 of Act 30, describing the process as not thorough enough.

To address these issues, she said, “After much brainstorming, a team assisted me to propose solutions and reforms to make our jury system more efficient and result-oriented.” She added that the team engaged in media and stakeholder consultations to ensure broad support.

As part of administrative measures to support the new criminal assizes, the Chief Justice directed all presiding judges and registrars of high courts to prevent jurors from being listed in more than one court.

“Please ensure that under no circumstances is any juror placed on the list of more than one court, thereby eliminating the possibility of any juror being involved in cases pending in more than one,” she said.

She also gave directions for faster trials. “Trials are to be conducted from day to day all day, such that the courts in the criminal sessions will be able to determine one case from start to finish within a few days before beginning the hearing of another,” she added.

The Chief Justice expressed confidence that these changes will lead to more efficient use of jurors’ time and faster delivery of justice. “The time for change has gladly come, beginning from today’s opening of the criminal session, which will be occurring in all the regions of Ghana, where trials on indictments will be conducted,” she said.