Lack of automation of court systems is national burden – Chief Justice Torkornoo

New Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo has pledged to improve the efficiency of the country’s judiciary through the automation of court systems.

According to her, the lack of automation of court processes in Ghana is a national burden that must be addressed.

Speaking after she was sworn into office, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo lamented over how only 62 percent of courts use computers as part of its work although automation started 20 years ago.

“Two decades since tackling the issue of automation, only 62 percent of courts use computers as part of their work. Computerization is only the first process of the automation of court processes. After acquiring electronic devices to capture records of court processes, the registry, and offices of stakeholders must be networked in other to allow for the next level of automation,” Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo stressed.

The new Chief Justice continued, “This is a national burden and we are slowed by any sluggishness in the nation’s digitalization drive. Currently, our records show that only 26 percent of courts are networked and only 12 percent of courts have been brought into the bracket of full automation in the operation through the digitalization of their processes.”

Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo was sworn into office by the President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, June 12, at the Jubilee House.

She has become the third female Chief Justice in the history of the country, joining an enviable list that has Justice Georgina Theodore Woode and Sophia Akuffo as the pacesetters.