Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah has called for the effective implementation of the case tracking system (CTS) and associated activity nationwide.
He said stakeholders must ensure that the CTS activity is firmly rooted to enable efficiency and effectiveness in the criminal justice system, while promoting transparency and accountability at every stage of the process.
“As we seek the support of citizens, we as stakeholders must forge ahead with a common purpose to achieve the full implementation of the activity,” he said.
Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah made the call at a sensitisation workshop on the CTS on Thursday in Accra.
He said the CTS, launched in May 2018, seeks to support the government’s capacity to investigate and prosecute criminal acts effectively and in a transparent and accountable manner.
“It is targeted at improving Ghana’s ability to track criminal cases, from their introduction into the system to prosecuting the case in court, enhancing information-sharing [and] communication among Ghana’s law-enforcement and judicial authorities.
“It is also to increase efficiency and effectiveness of investigation of criminal cases of all types, especially corruption, security and cybercrime.”
The Chief Justice said that since the launch of the CTS 5,000 staff across all six Judicial Service institutions in seven regions had been trained to use the system. Eighty-nine per cent of officers have begun to use it.
Sustainability in the balance?
The CJ said the new system was an initiative to improve the work of stakeholders and benefit the criminal justice system. He urged them to continue giving it their fullest commitment in order to ensure its complete rollout and sustainability.
“I urge you to continue to strengthen the collaboration and co-ordination to ensure that the task is done well despite the challenges,” he told the workshop participants.
“Already there are genuine concerns about the long-term sustainability of the system because of the usual drying-up of funds, equipment, lack of follow-up in the regions, which may result from the withdrawal of focal persons, and the usual attitudinal resistance to change,” he said.
The Chief Justice argued that the challenges will be met, however, if all stakeholders remain committed to the overall objective of the system, given its obvious importance in addressing the main challenges facing the criminal justice system.
Legal aid
Enock Jengre, a specialist in the rule of law, told the workshop participants that: “Access to justice means access to state-sponsored health, welfare, education and legal services, particularly for the poor, or fair opportunities and treatment in the allocation and use of social, public services and goods.”
He said the two main avenues for access to justice – formal and informal – do not preclude other avenues which can be used to pursue administrative complaints.
Jengre said some of the challenges in accessing the Judicial Service are the high cost of initiating or defending suits, limited or no knowledge of legal rights and entitlement, or legal and social responsibilities, a high perception of corruption, executive or political interference, and limited/ineffective access to courts.
“The CTS looks at tracking criminal cases from one justice sector institution to the other. There should be more lawyers to work with the Legal Aid Commission to defend people who [otherwise cannot] afford the services of lawyers,” said Jengre.
“Seventy per cent of lawyers in the country are centred in the Greater Accra Region, while 20 per cent are in the Ashanti Region and the remaining 10 scattered across the rest of the regions, a situation which does not auger well for the Judicial Service system in the country,” Jengre said.
He noted that the Legal Aid Commission is mandated under Act 2018 to support individuals who cannot afford the services of lawyers, and argued that the CTS will go a long way to help information flow among such institutions.
Jengre applauded those e regions using the system, saying: “This is something that is quite useful and we cannot ignore it. So let us all support each other and advocate it.”
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