Land cases would collapse Fast Track Court system - Justice Brobbey

Mr Justice Steve Brobbey, Appeal Court Judge, said on Wednesday that land cases were so pervasive that their inclusion on cases listed at the Fast Track Courts (FTC) would collapse the system.

Mr Justice Brobbey, who made the observation at a day's Case Management Workshop for 21 Judges attached to the FTCs in Accra, said land cases were so numerous on the case list that if they were heard at the FTCs the concept would not achieve its ultimate aim.

The workshop, the first to be organised for the selected judges from both the Appeal and High Courts, was aimed at updating their knowledge to enable them to appreciate the use of information technology in the trial process.

It was also meant to afford the judges the opportunity to evaluate their performances since the inception of the FTCs in March last year. Mr Justice Brobey, who is also the Acting Director of the Continuing Judicial Education, said about 55 land cases were filed daily in Accra alone.

He said since the FTCs had a maximum of six months to dispose of a case, the inclusion of land cases would render the concept a mirage and, therefore, unworkable.

Giving a personal experience, Mr Justice Brobbey said the first FTC case he handled when the new system came into being was a land case. So far 20 witnesses had been called, four more would be called and 13 lawyers were appearing for the litigants.

Turning to criminal matters, Mr Justice Brobbey urged the public to disabuse their minds of the wrong impression that the FTCs was instituted to try criminal cases alone.

He said it was far from that because none of the first six cases listed on the Fast Track was criminal in nature, adding that out of 99 cases listed at the FTCs in December last year, only one was of criminal nature.

Mr Justice Brobbey said he was optimistic that for the system to be effective judges would not be expected to handle more than three cases each.

Ms Sophia Akuffo, Supreme Court Judge, urged participants to take workshops seriously so that with remarkable improvements in the FTC system, the public would change their negative perception about the judiciary and have absolute confidence in it.