Chief Justice inaugurates commercial courts in Kumasi

Efforts at ensuring quick, efficient and effective resolution of commercial disputes to promote investment and trade have been given momentum with the opening of two new Commercial Courts in Kumasi.

Located in the premises of the Prempeh Assembly Hall, these bring to four the number of specialized courts operating in the Ashanti Region.

The funding came from the Private Sector Development Strategy, (PSDS) a multi-donor basket fund under the Trade and Industry Ministry.

Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, the Chief Justice, who performed the inaugural ceremony, said the success story of Ghana’s model of Commercial Court has won international admiration.

It has become a case study, lauded and singled out for replication throughout the West Africa sub-region.

The Chief Justice said the Alternative Dispute Resolution, which is an integral part of the Commercial Court system, has come to be accepted by the business community, given the advantages it has over litigation.

“Clear evidence abounds in debt recovery cases that the Commercial Court has brought sanity into the financial sector,” she said.

“Creditor banks find it much easier now to recover their debts without having to spend too much time or money, or engaging in litigation, which has the tendency of destroying business relationships.”

Chief Justice Wood encouraged the business community and legal practitioners to make maximum use of the specialized system of adjudication.

Additionally, she demanded from the judicial staff hard work to help enhance public confidence.

She announced that other commercial courts in Sunyani, Cape Coast, Koforidua, Tamale and Takoradi, which are fully automated, would soon be inaugurated.

Mr Samuel Sarpong, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, suggested the establishment of a special court to deal with environmental and domestic violence cases.

Source: GNA