A Supreme Court judge nominee has said it is possible for the country to adopt the use of electronic systems in court proceedings to help ensure speedy justice delivery.

According to Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu, it is a good option for the country’s judiciary to explore so far as there are resources and laws to aid in its implementation.

Responding to a question on the possibility of the Supreme Court to hear cases virtually during his vetting on Wednesday, he said “it should be possible once High Court and other courts can do it.”

“The most important thing is the availability of the resources and facilities to do that,” he added.

Justice Adibu Siedu observed that since witnesses can be invited electronically to court in other jurisdictions, the same could be done in Ghana.

“Currently, there are no Supreme Court rules to back the initiative but the rules may be amended.”

Concern of judges

He acknowledged that the primary concern of judges when they sit on a case is its merit and not its political ramification or anything else.

Justice Asiedu said judges are only focused on the legal questions that have been asked in the case.

Even though some cases enter the courtroom wearing “political hats”, it is immediately removed.

“Let me say that a case may enter the courtroom wearing the hat of politics, but once it enters the courtroom, the hat drops. And so in the courtroom, the question is what wrong has been committed? What are the legal issues that we are being called upon to determine legally? So in the courtroom, it is legal issues that we deal with.”

“So yes, outside the courtroom people including our friends and family and other members may see the case as political, but we don’t see it that way,” he explained.