Six magistrate courts in the three regions in the north are to be modernized and semi-automated as a pilot scheme towards the automation of other lower courts in the country.
The project, which is being undertaken by the National Governance Programme with support from Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), will cover magistrate courts in Damongo, Lawra, Tumu, Navorongo, Bawku and Bimbilla. The National Coordinator for the Programme, Mrs Lenora Kyeremateng, who disclosed this in an interview said the project is part of an overall programme to bring justice to the lower levels of society and make it possible for the marginalized in the society to access justice. She said once the pilot phase is completed, the project will be replicated in various parts of the country. To do this, Mrs Kyeremanteng said some indicators will be used to measure the success of the programme.
The National Coordinator noted that some people in rural communities do not access the courts, because over the years the courts have been made to appear as mysterious institutions and said one of the aims of the Governance Programme is to demystify the courts and make them accessible to the people. She said there is a civil society dimension to the court reform programme under which people will be educated to accept the use of the courts to seek justice. She also said there is a plan to make magistrate courts identifiable in all the communities where they exist.
To this end, she said an architect would be engaged to design a common frontage for all magistrate courts in order to make them identifiable and thus enhance accessibility. Mrs Kyeremanteng said the programme is in touch with the Ministry of Local Government to get the district assemblies to identify premises that can be used as magistrate courts. She said that as part of the general move to make the courts popular and accessible, the programme intends to institutionalize Chief Justice forum at which the Chief Justice will meet the people and explain what the courts can do for them.
