CJ introduces evening court sittings
Effective March 25, 2024, eight selected courts will begin piloting a court shift system geared towards optimizing the use of existing court resources to reduce the volume of caseloads at the courts.
According to the Judicial Service, the shift system is necessary due to the backlog of pending cases in some of the courts.
This was contained in a circular signed on March 14 by the Judicial Secretary, Justice Cyra Pamela C. A. Koranteng, announcing the introduction of the court shift system by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
“The rationale for the court shift system stems from the fact that findings from a physical count of dockets undertaken in all courts nationwide demonstrated that a number of identified courts have huge caseloads, with some in excess of 600 pending cases,” the circular to staff of the service stated.
The circular explained that the morning shift will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. while the afternoon session runs from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo expressed the hope that its implementation will reduce the backlog of cases in the specified courts, improve accessibility to justice for citizens by offering flexible court hours that accommodate diverse schedules, and enhance the overall effectiveness of the judicial system.
The eight courts piloting the shift system are;
1. High Court’ 1′, Adentan
2. High Court ‘2’, Adentan
3. High Court 1, Amasaman
4. Circuit Court, Weija
5. District Court, La
6. District Court, Teshie
7. District Courts A&B, Madina
8. High Court, Nsawam