Saturday court starts operating in Accra

Accra, April 5 GNA- The new Saturday Court introduced by the Chief Justice to deal with specialized cases including domestic violence, juvenile cases and financial claims commenced sitting in Accra. The new court being operated on pilot basis at the Accra District and Juvenile Court was expected to help clear backlog of cases transferred from the other courts as well as deal with fresh ones. Mr Justice Benjamin Teiko Aryeetey, an Appeal Court Judge with oversight responsibilities for High and Circuit courts in Accra, said the new court would help among others individuals and organizations to make claims from their debtors on time.

He said when people know that they would be summoned before the court to pay their debts they would make arrangements to settle the claims or find a good mechanism to negotiate with their creditors for payment peaceful.

Mr Abdullah Iddrisu, the acting Judicial Secretary, said more courts would have to be set up to deal with the numerous cases in the system.

He explained that the more the country's economy shot up the more likelihood that the number of litigations would increase. Mr Iddrisu said the Saturday court system might not last longed and it would be reviewed after the decongestion of the various courts. He said the Judicial Service was planning to build additional court rooms at the 28th February Court (Cocoa Affairs) to address the problem of numerous cases there.

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) as result of the introduction of the Saturday Court has taken advantage of the system to collect arrears in (SSNIT) contributions. Reverend Osei Bimpong, Director of Public Affairs of SSNIT, said there were over 200 SSNIT contribution cases pending in Greater Accra which has been transferred to the new Saturday court. He said because of the numerous cases and the slow nature at the other courts it was difficult for the organisation to collect the arrears from defaulters as result of the numerous adjournment of the cases.