Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has called on the Justices from Commonwealth Nations to embrace digital tools and innovations to enhance access to justice and improve justice system in their respective countries.
The Vice President made the call during the 19th Triennial Conference of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association (CMJA) in Accra. The conference was dubbed, “Access to Justice in a Modern World”.
Dr. Bawumia said in a contemporary world where digital innovations are making things and life easier, the justice system cannot be left behind.
He proposed that just as digital tools were utilised by individuals and institutions, including the CMJA, during the outbreak of COVIDd-19, CMIA would emulate that in enhancing justice delivery and restoring normalcy in the work of the Judiciary.
New normal
“Unable to meet in person, we connected over video conferencing facilities. We shared progress over shared screens. And the great online marketplaces enabled us to procure the necessities of life that sustained us through the turbulence. The CMJA is, of course, no stranger to the great utility of digital tools. Indeed, as has been noted, last year’s conference was held virtually and your Lordships, Honours and Worships were able to huddle over your digital screens and commune, in some fashion, with one another,” he said.
The Vice President noted that the absence of digital application could impede access to justice, stressing that delivery of justice will be boosted with the adoption of the right digital tools.
“How, for example, can a critical witness who is away from the jurisdiction for very valid reasons, provide the testimony necessary for the case to proceed? How can victims of assault tell their story if the result of the assault is that they are permanently tethered to a bed in an infirmary? How will a lawyer appear in two courts hours apart if the time between sittings is only a few minutes?,” Dr. Bawumia quizzed.
According to him, if there was a lesson from COVID-19, it was that these are possible if the world had employed the right digital tools. The advancements in technology, he said, meant that people do not have to be physically present somewhere to perform a task at a certain point.
“Justice systems in the Commonwealth and around the world, must, in my estimation, fully embrace the power of digital tools in order to boost access to justice. In fact, it would be criminally negligent to ignore the latent power we have and allow the situation to fester where our courts are clogged, citizens are frustrated and justice remains out of the reach of many,” the Vice President stressed.
Assurance
Assuring the CMJA of Ghana’s commitment to a digitalised justice system, Dr. Bawumia shared with the audience the story of how Ghana started digitising its judicial process even before the outbreak of COVID-19.
“Even before COVID-19, the digitalisation of our courts was very much underway. We now have virtual courts for our citizens, an electronic case management system and a ‘Justice for All’ programme that leans heavily on digital technology to expedite the cases of prisoners held on remand beyond the constitutional limit,” he said
He further indicated that the Government, through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation and allied agencies, will continue to support Ghana’s Judicial Service to leverage technology to improve access to justice in the country.
Dr Bawumia also hoped the conference will pave way for a robust exchange of ideas to collaborate as individual nations to pursue the goal of universal access to justice.
“We have much to share with each other and I want to believe that, at the end of the conference, we would have learnt much from each other…And that the citizens in our various nations will ultimately benefit from what we teach, learn and share here in Accra this week,” he concluded.
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