Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo
There is serious concern among Lawyers who have their cased being heard at the General Jurisdiction 5 (GJ5), the High court – Accra with their lamentations borne out of what they say is the unusual slow delivery of Justice.
Our checks revealed a lady judge was presiding over High Court 5 until she went on her annual leave in the early part of this year and a certain judge (name withheld) was asked by the Chief Justice to act in the absence of the lady judge who is currently on leave.
But the most worrying aspect of the Lawyers lamentations are that, sometimes Lawyers report to the court for their cases to be heard as early as 9 am in the morning only to be kept waiting or only to have their cases never called or have their cases called by 11 am or 12 pm for adjournment without any reason.
Another case that may be affecting justice delivery at GJ5 is the age of the trial judge in question.
“You hardly hear him when he speaks and he also struggles to hear when a lawyer is speaking,” a frustrated lawyer said.
MyNewsGH.com decided to independently verify this claim and it will amaze readers to know that as at 9am on Monday, May 7, 2018 the courtroom was empty, the reason being that the trial judge was gone for a medical checkup.
The aggrieved lawyers who have had their cases adjourned for months became furious and started talking on top of their voices venting their frustration on court clerks.
In an interaction with one of the lawyers, he said “Today is no different, about 30 lawyers filled both the BAR and the front seats in the court whiles other stood outside the courtroom with the main door to the courts open while proceedings are ongoing anytime the judge sits.
The whole room will be very packed and the heat in the room is simply unbearable as if there was a landmark case in the court but will just be a normal court sitting but the inability of the judge to work expeditiously due to his age was accounting for this situation. I will respectfully appeal to the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia A.B. Akuffo to intervene by paying a working visit to High court 5 to ascertain things for herself”, a livid lawyer appealed.
