E-Justice Platform ‘meaningless’ unless it is linked with increase in Lawyers – Kwaku Azar to CJ

U.S-based Ghanaian influencer, academic and activist, Prof Stephen Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Kwaku Azar has alerted Chief Justice Her Lordship Sophia Akuffo that her E-Justice Platform may fail if it is not linked up with an increase in the number of lawyers in the country, MyNewsGh.com reports.

While congratulating the Chief Justice for her efforts to speed up the court justice system through the project, he believes there must be a deliberate increase in the number of lawyers.

“Congratulations to the Chief Justice for launching the eJustice platform. This has the potential to fix some of the potholes on the highway of justice thereby enhancing the speed, fairness and transparency of litigation and trials.” he said.

“Nevertheless, I’d be remiss if I do not highlight that eJustice cannot realize its potential unless it is matched by a substantial increase in the number of lawyers,” he added.

“Today is to celebrate the good news so it is not politically correct for me to criticize anyone saves to say that the arrival of eJustice must end the era of students relocating to Accra or Kumasi just to qualify as a lawyer.” he jabbed further.

About E-justice Platform l

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo two days ago launched the $97 million e-Justice project, a paperless court system that will comprehensively enhance the nation’s efforts at improving its justice delivery. The Chief Justice who has been passionate about the project has already warned that its saboteurs will be dealt with, as reported by MyNewsGh.com.com.

The E-Justice Platform is funded by the World Bank and seeks to automate the existing manual filing systems within the courts registries, from filing of cases to the execution of court decisions.

It is also designed for the Judiciary to avoid the duplication of suit numbers, high cases processing time, handwritten documentation among others.

Launching the project, the President said social vices and crimes such as vigilantism, bank frauds, cyber frauds, illegal mining, identity thefts, stealing of public funds, bribery and corruption, criminal cartels and criminal behaviour in general, including assaults on and by law enforcement officers, must be dealt with expeditiously with the help of technology.

E-justice Platform, Fast track Court, Amidu

Kwaku Azar warned that the “pomp and pageantry” of the E-justice platform must not end up like the Fast track Court or the Office of the Special Prosecutor. .

Finally, we have, with pomp and pageantry, welcomed the Fast Track Court and, more recently, the OSP only for them to regress to the mean.

Let eJustice be an exception to this deleterious tendency to regress to the mean.

eJustice, Akwaaba.”