Judiciary ready to have juvenile courts but .....CJ

Accra, March 31,GNA - Mr George Kinsley Acquah, Chief Justice, on Friday said the Judiciary had no place to house some lower courts although it was ready to create specialized courts to hear juvenile cases.

"We are ready to produce personnel, they cannot work on the streets; we need more accommodation to house our staff."

The Chief Justice was responding to questions at the launch of two survey reports initiated by Judicial Service and Department of Social Welfare in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO), a non-governmental organization.

A Judicial Service research on access to justice by children reveals that between October 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004, the family tribunal concluded 2,837 cases and had 7,177 cases pending. He recounted how the Kaneshie Magistrate's Court was ejected from the Ga Mantse's Palace saying, the court was housed at the Regional Tribunal Building.

"People living at Weija and its environments would now have to travel to Accra for their cases to be heard."

According to him, in Accra, the Judicial Service was being housed in various palaces and appealed to Assemblies to strive to build courts to ensure justice delivery though out the country.

He pointed out that currently the Judicial Service was training more career magistrates to fill vacant positions in the magistrate's courts which would serve as family tribunals to hear and determine actions that would arise under the Children's Act.