Ghana Judicial Service Pilots Evening Court Sessions in Shift System Trial

The Judicial Service says effective March 25, 2024, eight selected courts will begin a pilot of a Court Shift System aimed at “optimizing the use of existing court resources to reduce the volume of cases before the Courts.”

“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,” a circular to staff of the service explained.

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

The morning shift runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. while the afternoon session will be from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The circular signed by the Judicial Secretary, Justice Cyra Pamela C. A. Koranteng, which announced the introduction of the Court Shift System by 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.