Access to justice critical for rule of law - Ghartey

Accra, April 30, GNA - Mr Joe Ghartey, Attorney General and Minister of Justice on Wednesday said access to justice was one of the most important indicators of the rule of law.

He said the government in its Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) paper also acknowledged the paramount importance of the rule of law as a governance issue.

Mr. Ghartey was speaking at the launch of the "Access to Justice Series Books 1-10" in Accra.

The project which was initiated by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice and the Ministry of Justice with sponsorship from the German Technical Corporation (GTZ) proposed to explore, explain and discuss the difficulties that rural and marginalized people especially women face in claiming their right.

Mr Ghartey said many women could not access formal judicial services or enforce their claims to institutional facilities because they lacked knowledge or were bogged down by social convention when they attempted to claim their rights.

He said lack of clarity of laws applicable to a situation, the validity of legal rules in traditional settings derived from general acceptance, legitimacy of the legal adaptation, development and law reforms in a rapidly changing world were some of the problems that the project was likely to face.

He said the weakness and opportunities for abuse in the traditional enforcement systems calls for the harmonization of conflicting legal and other systems in orderly and legitimate procedure for social development.

He said the problems of access to justice concerned the very livelihood of citizens including lands, inheritance, child maintenance and matrimonial property.

Nana Akufo-Addo, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential Candidate and former Attorney General and Minister of Justice said he would ensure that access to justice and the rule of law remained high on his agenda in the next NPP administration.

He said the creation of the Legal Pluralism Policy Forum (LPPF) in 2001 with its stakeholders was to discuss how legislative reforms could achieve societal and developmental issues like gender equity and property rights of women in marriage, divorce and inheritance, access to land, and access to justice including fair trial.

He called for the review of the Intestate Succession Law; PNDC Law 111 which he said was well intended to bring real change to women's ability to participate in their husband's estate but had not achieved its desired impact.

Mr Akufo-Addo also urged the National House of Chiefs and the Law Reform Commission to harmonize, modernize and codify the customary law to make certain, transparent and beneficial in a democratic and open society.

Dr. Marius Haas, German Ambassador in Ghana said his country would continue to support Ghana, particularly the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General to provide access to justice for all through various law reforms such as the Property of spouses Legal reform, the Access for All Forum and the Ascertainment of Customary Law Project.

He said more than 80 female traditional leaders from all the regions have been trained in matters of dispute resolution in land and family law to enable them provide their communities with quality resolution scheme based on good knowledge of the law.