Chief Justice nominee, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, has stated that in order to speed up the resolution of land disputes, the judiciary will rely heavily on the use of technology.

She believes that doing this will boost the confidence of Ghanaians who want to go through due process in determining the legitimate owner of a land.

“I think an increased use of technology, we’ve been looking at technology that allows the superimposition of plans very quickly and clearly when cases are commenced, and that’s one area that I’ll be extremely be interested in moving along very quickly.”

“Because a lot of the delay comes not from the fact of the conflict but from deciding what exactly the issues are and how to resolve those issues,” she said.

She mentioned that sometimes the delay is also from parties who bring cases to court and subsequently fail to follow up on them.

“Sometimes somebody gets an injunction and he goes to sleep,” she said.

She explained that the independence of the judicial body makes it difficult for them to activate cases that have been slept on by parties, and therefore a new engagement will be done with regards to case management rules and how to strike cases off when parties refuse to show up in court.

“If a plaintiff starts a case and is not following it up, how do we strike it off after certain conditions have been met?”

“So, technology case management rules, training, increasing the capacity of judges and lawyers on practical issues is the way to go,” the Chief Justice nominee said.

Parliament on Friday, May 26, vetted Justice Gertrude Torkonoo for the position of Chief Justice. 

President Akufo-Addo in April nominated her to replace the now-retired Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah.

The President subsequently informed Parliament of his decision and called for her speedy approval. 

She will become the third female Chief Justice in the history of Ghana after Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo if she’s approved.