Training Workshop For Private Process Servers Held

Private Process Servers have been advised by Mr Justice Amonoo-Monney, a retired Justice of the Appeals Court, to be fair, honest and transparent in the process of administering justice.

Speaking at a certification and training workshop held for twenty-one new Private Process Servers held in Accra yesterday, Justice Amonoo-Monney said Private Process Servers must be circumspect in the delivery of justice and summon bodies involved in civil cases on time.  

This, he said, will speed up the process involved in court proceedings, to allow the litigants respond accordingly. He urged the participants to have a Proof of Service on whatever summon they issued out to parties involved in a case.

Taking the participants through the stages of civil trail, Justice Amonoor-Monney said, in order for a process server to grasp the complexities of civil proceedings, he or she must have a clear idea of the various stages in civil litigations and the steps that are to be taken with each stage by a Process Server.

According to Sandra Thompson, Director of Judicial Reform and Projects at the Judicial Service, the Private Process Servers Scheme commenced in 2004, to remedy the problem of traditional bailiffs who manipulated the justice delivery system to their own gain.

She stated that, the most 'disheartening observation was the frequently leaking of very confidential information to the public and the collection of money from litigants as an incentive to effect speedy service.'

Outlining the purpose and objectives of the private process servers, Sandra Thompson said the scheme as to ensure that judicial functions are honestly and efficiently executed in order to enhance the effective delivery of justice.

To achieve this objective she emphasised that processes filed in court, must be served promptly within the courts stipulated time to enable litigants respond accordingly.

Minimal costs of litigation to make justice administration friendlier and more accessible to the public and the confidence and perception of the public on Judicial Service must be targeted.

The Director of Projects and Reforms announced that, in the history of the Judiciary in Ghana this is the first time that the courts have not relied entirely on the use of traditional bailiffs for the service of court processes.

Participants were also introduced to legal matters and taken through some legal expressions and terminologies in the judicial process.