My vision will be to pursue quality delivery of justice & Judges - Sophia Akuffo

Chief justice-designate, Justice Sophia Akuffo, has pledged to work hard and ensure that the judiciary delivers its best.

Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee today [Friday], she said, quality judges and quality justice delivery for all Ghanaians would be her vision for Ghana’s judiciary if approved as the country’s Chief Justice.

“Quality judges delivering quality justice for all in accordance with the constitution and doing it with the optimal application of technology of whatever sort that will help in delivering quality justice.”

This she noted will entail effectiveness, saying “Effectiveness is one of the characteristics of quality justices. It covers the assurance [that] the public have; that.. when they come to the hall of justice they will receive justice”.

She added, ‘’I am always interested in continuous improvement. Delay in completion of cases is a problem [but] I believe a lot has been done over the years.

‘’I am interested in effective quality justice because it covers the assurance that the public has that when they come to the hall of justice they will receive or access justice. There is still a lot of work to do that is one of the continuous areas I am willing to work on.’’

Sophia Akuffo had her Masters in Law (LLM) from the Havard University in the United States. She has been a member of the Governing Committee of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute and the Chairperson of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force.

In January 2006, she was elected one of the first judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights initially elected for two years, she was subsequently re-elected until 2014 and is at present serving as Vice-President of the Court.

She has written The Application of Information & Communication Technology in the Judicial Process – the Ghanaian Experience, a presentation to the African Judicial Network Ghana (2002).

If confirmed by parliament Justice Sophia Akuffo will be the fifth Chief Justice under the fourth republic after; Isaac Kobina Abban who served between 1995 to 2001.