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The number of judges at the Supreme Court should be pegged at 20 to ensure efficient delivery of justice at the apex court, a Supreme Court nominee, Justice Philip Bright Mensah, has proposed.
He stressed that the overwhelming volume of work at the Supreme Court required more hands to handle the cases.
Making the proposal when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament yesterday, the Appeals Court Judge stressed that if more judges were nominated to the Supreme Court, there would be four sets of panels to promptly handle cases.
"Even for ordinary cases, the panel is normally five members. If the case goes for review, two more judges are added.
"Given the cases we have at the Supreme Court, I will maintain that 20 judges will be okay so that we can have four sets of panels at the court," he said.
Justice Mensah is one of the seven Court of Appeal judges that were nominated by President John Dramani Mahama on April 29 this year, for approval by Parliament to serve as Supreme Court Judges.
He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2019 after serving for many years at the High Court.
Justice Mensah was the presiding Court of Appeal judge in the trial of a former COCOBOD Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, who ruled that the High Court should adopt proceedings from the trial conducted by the previous judge who heard the case from 2018 till March 2023.
He was also one of the Court of Appeal judges in the ambulance trial in which the current Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, and businessman, Richard Jakpa were acquitted and discharged.
The vetting started on a high note when Justice Mensah walked the members of the committee through his rich curriculum vitae and expertise in the legal system which started as far back as 1975.
Thrilled by the depth of the CV, the Chairman of the Vetting Committee and First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, exclaimed: "Mr nominee, you have a rich CV; it is okay."
The expert in commercial, corporate, taxation laws, and litigation, dazzled the committee members as he demonstrated his in-depth knowledge of the legal system, having risen from a court recorder to a Court of Appeal Judge.
At a point, the chairman had to remark, "We can see the knowledge you are demonstrating here; we do not intend to keep you here for long, so keep it short," amid laughter from his colleagues.
Justice Mensah emphasised the need for more investment in capacity-building and infrastructure development at the Supreme Court to ensure a top-notch performance.
"I want to appeal to Parliament that anytime the budget of the Judiciary comes to the House, the Members of Parliament should approve it so that the Chief Justice can undertake infrastructure projects to improve the facilities we have at the Supreme Court," he said.
In terms of capacity-building, he stressed the need for all judges to make it their priority to upgrade their knowledge to give cutting-edge judgments.
"It is always said that the law is in the bosom of the judge; and if the law is in the bosom of the judge, it means judges must know the law," he stressed.
Touching on the issue of legal education, he said there was the need for an overhaul of the current system of admitting holders of Bachelor of Law (LLB) degrees for a professional law programme.
He said it was the desire of most LLB holders to undertake professional law programmes, hence the system must not frustrate qualified persons.
He said the current level of infrastructure at the Ghana School of Law made it impossible to enrol more students, which was why something innovative needed to be done to expand access to legal education.
For instance, he said, immunity could be given to all LLB holders who had qualified for the professional law course to undertake the courses at the Faculties of some universities under strict monitoring regimes.
Responding to a question on the role the Judiciary could play in the fight against illegal mining, known locally as galamsey, he said there was the need for the law enforcement agencies to collaborate to enforce the country’s mining laws.
He said the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995) and other regulations had adequate deterrent provisions to deal with offenders, but what was left was for the Judiciary and the police to work together to enforce the laws.
Again, he called for judges in mining communities to be given special training in the Chinese language to help prosecute foreigners, especially Chinese nationals.
"When these Chinese people are arrested and sent to court, they do not speak English, and it becomes difficult to prosecute them," he said.
Regarding the deportation of foreigners engaged in galamsey, he said the decision to deport offenders lay squarely with the executive arm of government.
