‘Why must our courts go on vacation for months?’ – Ransford Gyampo

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has questioned the essence of legal vacation.

He argued that the arrangement is difficult to justify at a time when several cases remain pending before the courts.

Speaking on TV3’s Keypoint on Saturday, August 15, Prof. Gyampo questioned the benefit of shutting down the courts for an extended period when Ghanaians continued to seek justice.

“I don’t understand why our courts must go on vacation for months when we need to deliver justice to people,” he said.

Prof. Gyampo further argued that Ghana’s judiciary continues to operate with systems that reflect the country’s colonial past.

“We still have relics of colonialism in our judicial service,” he said.

He cited the continued reliance on typists to record court proceedings as one example, arguing that modern electronic tools should be deployed to improve the recording and transcription of proceedings.

“You go to court, and someone is typing what the lawyer says,” he added.

His comments come after the Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, clarified that legal vacation does not mean judges can not sit or hear cases.

The Chief Justice defended court sittings during the recess, explaining that judges are expected to continue working on their scheduled cases and handle emergency processes rather than completely halting judicial work.

Legal vacation is a scheduled period from August 1 to September 30 each year during which the superior courts the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court reduce their normal trial workloads.