Legal vacation: I agree with the lawyers who say they won't go to court - Bentil

Kofi Bentil, a legal practitioner, concedes that the lawyers who oppose attending court during the legal vacation have valid reasons. He emphasizes the need to reassess the legal vacation due to its impact on lawyers' and their clients' work schedules. Bentil explains that lawyers and clients plan their lives around the vacation; therefore, forcing lawyers to work during this time creates significant challenges.

Speaking on the same show, Professor Ransford Gyampo, CEO of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, highlights the outdated aspects of Ghana's judicial system. He questions why court proceedings still rely on manual typing instead of adopting modern electronic tools for recording and transcription. Gyampo argues that the judiciary should not continue operating as if the country were still under colonial rule, especially when it comes to delivering justice promptly.

MP Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has filed a legal challenge against the constitutionality of the Chief Justice's directive permitting selected High Court judges to hear criminal trials during the legal vacation. The Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, and the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dominic Ayine, are among the defendants in the case. Oppong Nkrumah seeks a declaration that the administrative warrants issued by the Chief Justice are unconstitutional and null and void.

Oppong Nkrumah argues that the directive prioritizes selected criminal cases while neglecting others during the vacation, thus violating Article 17(1) of the Constitution. He contends that the Chief Justice's administrative powers must be exercised in a manner that aligns with the Constitution's principles of fairness, reasonableness, transparency, non-arbitrariness, and consistency.