Supreme Court Justice nominee, Justice Agnes Dordzie, has identified the lack of law enforcement as the major stumbling block in the effective implementation of the rule of law in the country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”XOCsGJkacZk1EfIQAghfbcWlsXFRFrOa”]According to the nominee, most of the laws in the country are good enough to fulfill the purpose for which they are made, but the lack of implementation has become a challenge.
Answering questions at her vetting before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Agnes Dordzie said society will be more orderly and law-abiding if the country’s laws are strictly enforced.
“We have all the laws on paper but enforcing it is our problem so that is where we should tackle. How we can enforce our laws to keep order in the system to see rule of law. It is left to us as individual members of this country and the various organs of state that have been entrusted to enforcing law,” she said.
She further defended the current legal regime where there is no cap on the number of justices at the highest court of the land.
“Those of us who have been in the system that rises to the court of appeal and to the Supreme Court [prefer an uncapped system.]…When it comes to empanelling, the larger the number, the better because you may have to recuse yourself when you have decided a case at the lower court.
“When it happens that way the Supreme Court will be handicapped in vetting and empaneling. I think the number as we have it is not too large. It makes vetting easier,” she said.
The constitution gives a minimum of 9 justices at the Supreme Court, however, it does not give a limit to the number.
Some analysts have criticized the regime, saying that it gives the opportunity for governments to abuse it by rewarding justices who give judgments in their favour with appointments to the Supreme Court.
Justice Dordzie is one of four justices being vetted by the committee to the Supreme Court.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
