“If the financial independence of the Judiciary is conferred and demanded by the 1992 Constitution,
                        why is the Judicial Service of Ghana and the Judiciary subjected to such great constraints in its financial
                        administration? How can we be an independent arm of government when we have no control over
                        our finances? Is the constitutionally guaranteed institutional independence of the Judiciary only a mirage?
                        Can the institutional independence of the Judiciary be asserted when we need clearance to engage staff,
                        clearance to assess money generated from court services, clearance to procure any asset to do our work?” she asked.  

 
                       
                                                        A Cross section of Magistrates and Judges at the meeting

                      Justice Torkornoo was speaking at the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Magistrates
                      and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra under the theme “A Financially
                      Independent and Accountable Judiciary: The Key to Effective Justice Delivery”.

                     She noted that it is time for the Judiciary as an institution to become more assertive regarding its financial
                     independence. This the Chief Justice believes will compel a narrative justifying the need for it to be better resourced
                     in quantum and scope.

 
                      
                          The Hon. Lady Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, delivering her speech at the meeting

                     Chief Justice Torkornoo further expressed her commitment to the Judiciary’s quest for financial independence,
                     stressing, that it will be a key goal of her administration, aimed at building a modernized Judiciary.  

                     The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame, in his goodwill message, pledged his
                     commitment to ensuring the Judiciary’s budget is maintained.   

 
                       
                              Godfred Yeboah Dame, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, reading his goodwill message

                    “As Minister of Justice, I undertake to ensure that the estimates of the administrative expenses of the Judiciary
                     duly presented are duly protected and satisfied by the State, but this, of course, is subject to budgetary constraints”,
                     he said.

 
                         
                                           His Lordship Justice Henry Kwofie, President of the AMJG delivering his address

                     In his address, Justice Henry Kwofie, a Justice of the Court of Appeal and the President of the AMJG,
                     bemoaned the delay in the payment of allowances such as fuel for Judges and Magistrates.

 

                       
                                    Barima Oppong Kodie, Director of the Ghana School of Law, giving his goodwill message

                     The Director of the Ghana School of Law, Barima Oppong Kodie, advocated that a certain percentage of
                     monies retrieved from financial crimes after judgment, be retained by the Judiciary as a way of improving its finances.

 

                         
                                                                            Group photograph of participants

                     The two-day Annual General Meeting was attended by Justices of the Superior Courts (i.e. Supreme Court,
                     Court of Appeal & High Court) and members of the Lower Bench (i.e. Circuit Court Judges & Magistrates) from
                     across the country, as well as stakeholders in the justice delivery sector.