'The Tribunals Bill appears to preempt constitutional review recommendations' — Dr. Osae-Kwapong

A Research Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr. John Osae-Kwapong, has questioned the timing of the passage of the Tribunals Bill, 2026.

Parliament on July 16 passed the Tribunals Bill, 2026, introduced by Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Dr. Dominic Ayine.

The legislation seeks to re-establish and operationalize a modernized public tribunal system to reduce court backlogs, speed up the delivery of justice and activate dormant provisions under Articles 126 and 142 of the 1992 Constitution.

Speaking on Accra-based JoyNews' Newsfile programme on Saturday, July 18, Dr. Osae-Kwapong said the decision to revive tribunals raises several concerns, particularly because the recent constitutional review process had reportedly recommended doing away with them.

"It seems as though it is a preemption of what the Constitutional Review Commission is saying. Do away with these tribunals. So why don't we wait to see what happens to that recommendation unless the action taken by Parliament is to preempt that to say this is not a recommendation that we are not going to go with," he said.

He also questioned why the dormant constitutional provisions were being activated now after more than three decades under the 1992 Constitution.

Dr. Osae-Kwapong further expressed concern that the tribunal system could create overlapping jurisdictions and encourage prosecutors to choose the forum they consider most favourable for particular cases.

He argued that such discretion could undermine public confidence in the administration of justice if not properly addressed within the law itself.

"We've lived through three decades of this constitution, so I'm just curious as to why now. The constitutional provision has been there since 1992," he stated.

The CDD-Ghana fellow also cautioned that reviving tribunals comes with a historical burden, noting that many Ghanaians still associate the word "tribunal" with negative experiences from the country's past.

He said changing that public perception would be a significant challenge, even if the legislation is intended to improve case management and accelerate the delivery of justice.