Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo has underscored the need to have persons with legal training managing the country’s courts. She said it was very necessary to aid in the delivery of justice.
At a media briefing in Accra on April 4, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo indicated that the majority of Ghanaian court staff lack legal knowledge due to a lack of legal training.
Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo revealed that in other countries registrars of the court are persons with paralegal training, She cited Malawi as one of the countries with a high court judge as court registrar.
“One of the greatest weaknesses of Ghana’s judicial system is the lack of legal training for court staff. In many jurisdictions, registrars are judicial officers. Indeed, if you go to a country like Malawi, the registrar is a judge, a high court judge,” she said.
The Chief Justice indicated that it has been on the Ghanaian Judicial itinerary for a long time. “It had been on the table for a very long time to have persons with judicial capacity handling court. Before I came into office early last year, the judicial council actually gave a direction that judges or persons with legal training should take over as registrars,” she noted.
“Some 20 years ago, we had lawyers who were court managers and who were registrars, and many of them got attracted to private practice, and they left.”
“I have been in many courts within Africa, from Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and hardly would you find persons with no legal training being registrars of the court,” she emphasized.