Renowned Lawyer and Economics Professor, Stephen Kwaku Asare has stressed the need for Ghanaians to maintain confidence in the neutrality of the Judiciary even in the face of extreme partisanship in many sectors of the Ghanaian society.
Also known as Kwaku Azar, he expressed worry that “at a time when we have become excessively partisan, it is of utmost importance that people maintain confidence in the judiciary’s neutrality to resolve politically sensitive issues”.
“In turn, the level of confidence rests on the perception of judicial impartiality and fairness”, he added.
In a Facebook post, Prof Kwaku Azar urged the Judicary arm of Government to do more to boost public confidence in the judiciary and therefore suggested to the Supreme Court to commit to resolve all constitutional disputes within 180 days.
“Our courts must do more to boost public confidence. For instance, the Supreme Court must commit to resolve all constitutional disputes within 180 days, with time-sensitive claims to be put on an even faster track”.
Prof Kwaku Azar also indicated that “the Court must embrace technology to communicate directly with the people, including electronic filing, electronic conferencing and electronic delivery of opinions”.
“The Court must give effect to the bright-line rules in the Constitution without attempting to subject them to broad interpretations and constructions. For instance, if the Constitution says the voting age is 18, just leave it like that without trying to say people who are in the university can vote even if they are under 18” Kwaku Azar stated.
Prof Kwaku Azar again noted that “it is also time for the Court to develop some broad guidelines or principles that they use to determine the constitutionality of laws or administrative actions. This will be helpful to all of us in ordering our lives”.
He also cautioned that “in this social media era, the Court must weigh its words and opinions very carefully because people will scrutinize them. It does the Court no good and it harms public confidence when the Court says things that are hard to believe or are facially absurd, logically flawed or inconsistent with its prior precedents”.
He however explined that, “the Court remains the sentinel of the Constitution and the bastion of our democratic aspirations. Let us all invest in making it a place we feel confident of going for justice”.
Source: Edward A. Ken-Zorre | www.diamondfmonline.com | Ghana
