The High Court retains exclusive jurisdiction at first instance over crimes of first instance, offences punishable by death or life imprisonment, and offences of high treason and treason convicted by the Supreme Court by a special court of three judges. The Commercial Court is a special chamber of the Tribunal de Grande Instance created in 2005 as part of the judicial reform launched in 2001. The objective of the court is to improve the responsiveness and efficiency of the judicial service in commercial disputes. It is currently active in seven of the country`s ten regions. There are ten (10) commercial courts in Accra. two (2) in Cape Coast, two (2) in Koforidua, four (4) in Kumasi, two (2) in Sekondi-Takoradi, two (2) in Sunyani and two (2) in Tamale. Judges of the High Court are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Council of State. Appeals from the Commercial Court are heard by the Court of Appeal. The High Court has supervisory powers over all lower and lower courts to ensure that they do not exceed the exercise of their powers and do not comply with due process.[17] This list contains 3 high courts in prisons that sit on cases. This project was initiated by the Chief Justice as part of the Justice for All program, which aimed to bring justice to inmates, expedite the processing of cases and reduce the excessive backlog of pending cases. Even in the same area, the courts have decided that the action should be brought in the nearby High Court, as provided for in the above rules.
In Volden and Others v. GHANA GOLDFIELDS LTD (1999-2000) 1 GLR 462, the Court ordered the referral of a High Court case, Sekondi, to the High Court, Tarkwa. The Court stated: 5. In the long term, the executive has the duty to make provision for the courts and in particular for the supreme courts of these new regions through the local governments of the regions whose mission is to ensure access to justice[18]. It is important to point out that the Brong Ahafo region is now called the Bono region and this is the region where Sunyani and Wenchi could be placed, which are the cities where the Supreme Courts are located. The Supreme Court of Ghana is the highest court in Ghana. [1] Ghana`s 1992 constitution guarantees the independence and separation of the judiciary from the legislative and executive branches. [2] According to President Akufo-Addo, the government has also taken note of the insufficient number of courts in different parts of the country, forcing citizens to travel long distances to access the country`s courts. It is also important to mention that the courts have ruled that there is only one High Court in Ghana, sitting in different regions. Thus, the Supreme Court of Kumasi is the same Supreme Court in the Upper West and can preside over a case in the Ahafo region, and the decision it makes is considered valid. 3.
The Chief Justice may also adopt the approach taken by the Office to establish courts in certain prisons in the country so that they can deal with cases of detainees who do not have access to justice. The jurisdiction of these lower courts is geographically limited: the jurisdiction of the district courts is limited by the districts in which they are located, while the district courts are limited to the jurisdiction defined by the Chief Justice,[5] which usually includes a few districts in practice. In addition, they are severely limited by the scope of the cases they are empowered to decide. Their jurisdiction in contractual, tortious or immovable property matters is limited by the amount of the claim and the value of the immovable property concerned in the case[6]. The social impact of creating new regions can include an influx of people into capital cities and business areas, resulting in increased trade and a lack of land for residential, commercial and industrial purposes. This will potentially have direct legal and judicial implications, as civil disputes arise from commercial contractual issues, from issues of transferring land for various purposes that need to be resolved by the courts, in which the High Court would play an important role. Therefore, given that there are no supreme courts dealing with these matters in these regions, it is likely that chaos will ensue in these cases. With these statistics, it is important to highlight the impact of the absence of a Supreme Court on the judicial system of the region and the country. The Supreme Court was established by the Order of the Supreme Court (1876) as the highest court of the Gold Coast (now Ghana) during the colonial period. [3] Gold Coast Supreme Court appeals went to the West African Court of Appeal (WACA), established in 1866.
Ghana withdrew from WACA after independence and abolished appointments to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London in 1960. [4] After the military coup of 24. In February 1966, the National Liberation Council (NLC) abolished the Supreme Court by judicial decree of 1966 (NLCD.84) and transferred judicial power to two groups of courts: the Supreme Court and the lower courts. [5] This was reversed by Article 102(4) of the 1969 Constitution establishing the Second Republic. [6] After the coup d`état of 13 January 1972, the Supreme Court was again abolished by the National Redemption Council on the grounds that the 1969 Constitution had been abrogated and therefore it was not necessary for a court to interpret and apply it. His functions have been delegated to the Court of Appeal. [4] This was reversed by the 1979 Constitution, when the Third Republic was established on September 24, 1979. [7] The Supreme Court was created after the September 31 coup. It was left intact by the Provisional National Defence Council in December 1981, although it made changes to the judicial system by introducing public courts. [7] In all this, it is the poor and vulnerable who will be most affected by the lack of justice in the new regions.
In the learned and concise words of N. A. AMEGATCHER J. in the statute, it is stated that if the cause or case involves immovable property or an interest therein, or damage to immovable property such as land or building, the case must be filed in the area where the immovable property or part of it is located. Therefore, all land claims must be filed in the area where the land is located. For example, a land dispute in the Oti region worth more than GH50,000 must be filed in a high court in the region. The High Court has jurisdiction over all civil cases which have constitutional jurisdiction, except those expressly annulled by law. By civil jurisdiction, we essentially mean all cases that are not criminal. Under the Act, the High Courts may hear all cases dealt with by the lower courts, but the lower courts may hear only cases expressly assigned to them by law. An examination of this table clearly shows the shortage of Supreme Court judges in Ghana. Although there are 108 high courts in Ghana, we only have 87 judges. There are courts that do not have appointed judges.
It also shows the bias of the judicial infrastructure in favor of the Greater Accra region, even though the Ashanti region is the most populous. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that the report shows that 5 of these judges are on administrative leave, 2 of them seconded and 1 on study leave. In fact, there are currently only 79 judges in our courts, although 108 courts are available. 1. In the meantime, the Chief Justice should issue a practice guide designating the registry of the lower courts of the new regions as the High Court and sending the judges to sit. This step is not new, as it has also been done for the Court of Appeal. All judges of the Court of Appeal are housed in the Greater Accra region, but registers have been established in the other regions that are sent there to sit when setting trial dates.