More Ghanaians are losing confidence in the ability
of the courts to dispense justice as a result of frequent delays in case
adjudication and the rising cost of hiring lawyers, a draft report of a study
commissioned by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice has shown.
Seventy-two per cent of respondents sampled in the
survey said although they had knowledge of the formal justice system, they were
challenged by the delays and frequent adjournment of proceedings and the cost
of initiating a legal process, including hiring a lawyer.
A 90 per cent majority of the respondents also
rated the system as "highly corrupt", while, out of that figure, 70
per cent claimed to have paid bribes to officials in the justice sector for
services rendered.
On the percentage spread of the justice sector
corruption, 32 per cent of the respondents had made unofficial payments to
Police officers. Similarly, 27 per cent had made payments to Judicial officers.
Further, 23 per cent of those interviewed paid monies to prosecutors. Finally,
5 per cent stated they had paid bribes to Prison Service officials.
Many of the people who were interviewed would
rather use other avenues to seek legal redress, aside the court. Twenty-three
per cent said they preferred the chief's palace, with 49 per cent looking
elsewhere for help.
Only 28 per cent of the respondents said they would
go to the courts to have their disputes settled.
The study, undertaken by Law and Development
Associates, a law consultancy firm, will form the 2012 Baseline Survey of the
Justice Sector of Ghana.
Overall, 946 respondents were fully interviewed for
the survey. An additional 55 interviews were conducted using the in-depth
interview guide. From the data, 63.3, per cent of the total number of
respondents fall within the 18-35 age bracket, whereas 1.6 per cent were 60
years and above.
Although the Legal Aid Scheme has been established
by the Constitution to provide for the right of citizens to legal counsel, the
right to fair trial and the right to be equal before the law, 79 per cent of
respondents had no knowledge of the existence or operation of legal aid in the
country.
Speaking at a meeting of stakeholders in the sector
to validate the survey, the Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Dr Ben
Kunbour, said the process was critical in fine-tuning a reform of the justice
sector to improve delivery.
According to him, the government desired a justice
system that was independent, transparent and free from corruption to aid
national development.
He noted with regret that most studies conducted
into several areas of concern to the country had been abandoned and expressed
the hope that the baseline survey would be treated with all the needed
attention.
The survey and the entire reform process is being
supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Country Director of the UNDP, Mr Kamil
Kamaluddeen, said his outfit welcomed the government's strong political
commitment to see that the 2012 Baseline Survey set the tone for a more
effective way of undertaking reforms in the justice sector.
According to him, the study provided a veritable
platform for informing future reform priorities and investments in the sector.
To the extent that the survey was representative of
the population of Ghana, those were serious findings that should inform
priority setting and future interventions for justice delivery in Ghana, Mr
Kamaluddeen said.
He said the UNDP would continue to assist in such
national policy formulations, as justice was at the core of building a peaceful
country.
Daily
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