Parliament Vets Supreme Court Justice Nominees Today; Justice Senyo Dzamefe Takes Lead.

By: Deborah Amewoyi

The Parliament of Ghana has commenced its vetting for Court of Appeal judges nominated by President Mahama to the Supreme Court.

The vetting which commenced today, Monday June 16 through to Wednesday June, 18 will see the interrogation of seven Court of Appeal Judges as follows;

1. Justice Senyo Dzamefe
2. Justice Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei
3. Justice Gbiel Simon Suurbaareh
4. Justice Philip Bright Mensah
5. Justice Janapa Adzua Bartels – Kwodwo
6. Justice Hafisata Amaleboba
7. Justice Kweku Tawaiah Ackaah-Boafo.

Justice Senyo Dzamefe taking the lead on the vetting list has announced several recommendations
and directives he would like to see come to light when selected as Supreme Court Judge. Justice Dzamefe touched on setting timelines for court cases in court. He described that simple cases like criminal cases must have a defined timeline to prevent further prolonged cases in court.

He called for the decentralization of the Supreme Court in order to make room for civil matters at the supreme court. “
“We need more lower-level court tribunals to handle criminal cases, so mainstream courts can focus more on civil matters.” he suggested.

Admist the growing age in technology coupled with the evolution of artificial intelligence platforms, Justice Dzamefe has called on the adoption of AI tools during court proceedings. “We must go technology. We need the tools. Time of long handwriting is past. So we have to go to AI tools like voice recording and transcriptions, so that by the end of the day, records are ready.” he advocated.

Some key takeaways from his vetting are as follows;

1. The call for Judges to declare their assets on grounds that they are government appointees
2. Appointments of competent women despite gender parity calls.
3. Call against the suppression of investigative Journalism.
4. Outcome of legal proceedings and decisions based on facts and not friendliness.
5. Keeping Judges retirement age at 70.

Justice Senyo Dzamefe has concluded his session and Justice Sir Dennis now takes his turn on the vetting seat for interrogation.