Cocoa Affairs Court To Be Replaced

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, 06 October 2006
THE 28th February Road Courts, in Accra popularly called "Cocoa Affairs", will be replaced with a modern court complex.

The project which is expected to commence next year and completed in two years will have a 34-room complex to house the high, circuit, a few magistrates and other specialized courts.

Chief Justice George Kingsley Acquah, announced this in Accra yesterday at the 27th annual general meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG).

He said the government had given the Judicial Service approval to tender for bids, adding, "we are almost completing.

He said in addition to the 34 court rooms, the new complex will house other offices, a conference room, a banking hall and rest-rooms for lawyers, adding that all the courts will be fully automated".

Mr Justice Acquah said an additional eight-room court complex could be built for the Commercial Court which would handle investment and commercial fraud cases as well as land disputes.

He also said work on the Judicial Training Institute with 120 room hostel facility, will also be completed in 2008, while the administration block for the service, situated behind the Supreme Court building will be completed by December.

The block upon completion will have 43 chambers for both the Supreme and Appeal Courts, offices for the Chief Justice and the General Legal Council and a library.

Mr. Justice Acquah said the administrative set up of the service had been amended and had appointed a registrar general in place of an administrative Secretary to keep the "day-to-day administration of the service in all regions".

Mr. Justice Yaw Apau, out-going president of AMJG, asked judges and magistrates to be guided by ethics of the profession to help uplift the image of the profession.

At the end of the programme, some retired judges as well as those who distinguished themselves during the 2005/2006 legal year were honoured by the AMJG.