The Supreme Court Justice nominee, Justice Samuel Kofi Marful-Sau, has indicated that if the nation wants the judiciary to perform its role as assigned by the Constitution, there is the need to look at the budget of the judiciary.
He expressed this view before the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
He reiterated that the allocated funds of the judiciary are sometimes not released after its approval by Parliament.
Mr. Marfu-Sau added that if the Judiciary is supported and financed adequately, it will be able to discharge its duties effectively without many challenges, as confronted in the justice delivery system currently.
The Justice of the Court of Appeal revealed that the number of judges and magistrates across the country, who sit on cases from the Supreme Court to the lower courts are not more than four hundred.
In explaining further, Mr. Marfu-Sau informed the committee that much attention and adequate resources should be given to the judiciary to build firm confidence in its adjudicating processes.
He said that the rule of law is one of the pillars in ensuring investment flow into the country, and the institution in charge of such mandate should not be denied the needed resources.
“Any investor would want to find out the dispute resolution mechanisms in the country and without proper foundation of rule of law, it will affect the investment drive of the nation. So there is the need to pay much attention to the judiciary, notwithstanding the challenges it faces”, he concluded.
The 1992 Constitution and the funding of the Judiciary
Article 127(5) of the 1992 Constitution states that “the salary, allowances, privileges and rights in respect of leave of absence, gratuity, pension and other conditions of service of a Justice of the superior court or any judicial officer or other person exercising judicial power, shall not be varied to his disadvantage.
(6) Funds voted by parliament, or charged on the Consolidated Fund by this Constitution for the Judiciary, shall be released to the Judiciary, in quarterly instalments.
(7) For the purposes of clause (1) of this article, “financial administration” includes the operation of banking facilities by the Judiciary without the interference of any person or authority, other than for the purposes of audit by the Auditor-General, of the funds voted by Parliament or charged on the Consolidated Fund by this Constitution or any other law, for the purposes of defraying the expenses of the Judiciary in respect of which the funds were voted or charged”.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
