Four judges off to Kenya on study visit

Accra, Jan 22, GNA-Three Justices of the Superior Court and a Circuit Court Judge left Accra at the weekend for Kenya to participate in a three-week training programme in Nairobi and Mombasa.

A press release issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the move was part of efforts by the Hon. Lady Chief Justice to build the capacity of the Ghanaian Judiciary to effectively adjudicate cases involving piratical offences against the State.

The statement said the four judges are His Lordship Justice Dennis Dominic Adjei, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, His Lordship Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh and His Lordship Justice Ernest Yao Obimpe, both Justices of the High Court and His Honour Samuel Asare-Nyako, a Circuit Court Judge.

It said State parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS) are enjoined to co-operate in the repression of piracy.

“It is in this spirit that the Kenya Maritime Authority, the Kenya Judiciary and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions working together with the Ghana Shippers’ Authority and the Judicial Service of Ghana are organizing the training programme”,it added.

The statement said the study tour, which is being sponsored by the Government of Ghana, will afford the Judges the opportunity to visit maritime facilities in Mombasa and also be attached to Kenyan courts trying cases of piracy.

It said the issue of piracy is a matter of grave concern to the international maritime community and piratical attacks have been on the ascendency in oil rich countries along the Gulf of Guinea in recent times, a phenomenon which was hitherto unknown in the region.

It also said the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has encouraged various countries to put in place the necessary legal framework to build judicial capacity to curb the menace.

The statement added that Maritime security experts also recommend better intelligence sharing, building up national and regional naval forces, and creating better legal frameworks to deal with pirates when they are arrested.