Judiciary Will Deal Fast With Electoral Disputes - CJ

Chief Justice Georgina Wood, has reiterated that the Judiciary will speedily and effectively deal with any electoral disputes that will come up, in accordance with the Constitution and other laws of the country.

She said that was because an important safeguard of election integrity lay in the effective resolution of electoral disputes in a fair and timely manner.

She said if that called for the sitting and hearing of cases on holidays and weekends, she would give that directive, as provided for by the Courts Act 1993.

Justice Wood gave the assurance at the launch of a document entitled, “The Accra Principles for Electoral Justice”, in Accra Thursday.

The document contains principles of universal applications to help guide and strengthen the tenets of democracy in the country in particular and Africa as a whole.

Justice Wood noted that failed justice stood the risk of ruining the collective effort at promoting and sustaining peace in the country, as well as turning the clock of national progress and development back, and added that the Judiciary would not compromise on its mandate.

She said the Judiciary would fully support efforts towards the realisation of the principles of the document to strengthen democracy in the country, adding that to that end, the Judiciary would collaborate with the Electoral Commission (EC) to have the principles of the document piloted in the country.

She said Ghana shared the universal understanding of democracy with the world.

Justice Wood said since a government derived its power from the will of the people, as expressed in genuine free and fair elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage, every effort should be made to promote and entrench values, practices and procedures that culminated in free, fair and transparent processes by which citizens exercised that right to choose who governed them.

She said despite the difficulties and challenges that the Judiciary sometimes faced, it was committed to jealously guarding electoral justice in consonance with the Constitution, the universal principles that had been launched and the Judicial oath.

The Chief Justice of Uganda, Justice Ben Odoki, said elections were the crux of democracy, adding that Ghana had demonstrated that in the credible and transparent elections it had held.

He expressed the hope that the Accra Principles would help guide and strengthen the tenets of democracy in Ghana and Africa.

The Chairman of Ghana's Electora Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, pledged the Commission's commitment to apply the principles, which are in conformity with global standards.