The absence of specialised electoral courts creating problems

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC), an NGO on Human Rights has said the absence of specialised courts dedicated to the resolution of conflicts arising as a result of elections was creating problems in the nation’s adjudication system.

“The non-existence of specialised courts tends to delay the peaceful resolution of conflicts that fester as a result of the protracted adjudication. Election disputes have to go through the regular courts that are already bogged down with cases,” Ms Daphne Lariba Nabila, LRC Acting Executive Director stated in a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

In view of the vacuum created, the LRC has earmarked series of engagement aimed at strengthening the Judiciary to deal with human rights abuses during Election 2012 and map-up strategies to build public consensus on electoral disputes.

The LRC seeks to use the engagement to empower stakeholders to effectively resolve electoral disputes.

The statement said the first of such meetings was slated for Friday, July 6 at the National Insurance Commission to be addressed by Mr. Justice John Nabarese, First Deputy Secretary of the Judicial Service.

It said Mr. Justice Nabarese would speak on the topic: “The Elections Court: The Practicalities of Instituting an Election Case”.

The project is being sponsored by STAR-Ghana, a multi-donor pooled funding mechanism (Funded by DFID, DANIDA, EU and USAID) to increase the influence of civil society and Parliament in the governance of public goods and service delivery, with the ultimate goal of improving the accountability and responsiveness of government, traditional authorities and the private sector.**