Judges, Magistrates asked to prioritize electoral cases

Justice Jones Victor Dotse, Justice of the Supreme Court, on Monday advised Judges and Magistrate in the country to prioritize cases on registration and electoral process, to ensure peace in the country.

“Speed up the trial of offences relating to registration and electoral process and make sure the necessary regulations and sanctions are applied.” he said.

Justice Dotse gave the advice at the opening of a one-day training workshop for Judges and Magistrate drawn from the Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions, in Tamale.

The workshop, which was organized by the Judicial Training Institute, sought to sensitize participants on their responsibilities on the law on public election (registration of voters) regulations 2012 CI 72).

Participants would also be schooled in offences created in respect with the law and appropriate sanctions.

Justice Dotse called on Judges and Magistrates to exhibit decorum, fairness and impartiality in handling electoral and registration cases, and should ensure that pronouncement on them were within timelines.

Throwing light on the overview of the workshop, he said as part of the training, participants would be equipped with practical knowledge and test cases on the application of the law.

Justice Lawrence Mensah, a Supervising High Court Judge, said cases relating to registration and electoral process were critical to peace, and needed to be treated with circumspect.

He said: “I urge you all to adjudicate such cases with carefulness and diligent because of the ‘weight’ and its high ‘temperature.”**