Accra, Nov. 28, GNA - The Governor-General of Canada, Michaelle Jean on Tuesday pledged Canada's support to Ghana in removing obstacles hindering the smooth operation of the Judiciary to ensure justice for all.
She said democratic governance and a strong civil society thrived on an accessible and impartial judiciary that enjoyed the confidence of the public at all times and it could best be achieved if the capacity of the judiciary was strengthened.
Madame Jean was addressing members of the Judiciary and some law students when she called on the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice George Kingsley Acquah at the Supreme Court in Accra. She was accompanied by Mr. Robert Greenhill, President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Mr. Jean-Marc Mangin, General Manager of the Canadian University Services Overseas (CUSO).
The visit by the Governor-General, the first Head of State to visit the court, was to discuss the progress of the Canadian-funded Institutional Strengthening Capacity-Building Project of Ghana's Judicial Service.
The two-year project aims at improving and upgrading the skills of staff of the Judicial Service of Ghana and complements an extensive and far-reaching reform and modernisation process spearheaded by Justice Acquah to help build the capacity of the Judicial staff. Valued at almost eight billion cedis, including a contribution of 4.8 billion cedis from CIDA office for Democratic Governance, the Project is jointly implemented by the Judicial Service of Ghana and CUSO, a Canadian NGO.
Madame Jean said the Judiciary played a crucial role in protecting and promoting the rights of the citizen, especially women and children who were the most vulnerable in society.
This was because as she pursued her studies and academic interests, Madame Jean worked for eight years with shelters and transition homes for abused women in Quebec and would not want to see women suffer without having access to justice.
She said justice should not be confined to the Judiciary alone, but its terrain must be expanded to reach all the people so as to win public confidence who should accept that the Judiciary was there to protect their interests.
Justice Acquah in his welcoming address, noted that an accessible, dependable and a fair justice system was a priority of the Judiciary, including community access to justice by women and children.
He said institutional strengthening, which CIDA was helping the Judiciary to build was to improve the human resource base of the service to help entrench democracy and good governance in Ghana.
He said the project, which included an institutional development and training plan and the application of international legal standards in the Ghanaian Judiciary would change the justice system positively. Justice Acquah noted that the direction of the project would enhance modern teaching to administer justice and carry out training programmes to ensure quality in line with best practices.
He expressed the hope that the relationship between Ghana and Canada would be strengthened through the significant investment in the project and that the Judicial Service would be better placed to perform its functions.
Ms. Gifty Amoah and Ms. Lidivina Rajabalan, CUSO interns from Canada expressed the hope that the project would help provide adequate supply of skilled and qualified judges to meet the expectations of the public.
