Days 15 and 16 - Kumasi High Court

I spent Monday and Tuesday marshalling with Justice Jennifer Dodoo, a judge of the Commercial Division of the High Court in Kumasi.  Here are a few impressions/observations, arising from this and other times spent in court:

·         The Ghanaian courts have a significant problem with delay.  Several cases are dealt with in a short period of time (perhaps half a dozen in an hour), apparently because little progress is made in each one.  The reasons why are multifarious, but common factors are the absence of one or both parties and/or their lawyers, problems with tendering evidence, and difficulties with service.  To give just one example, in a case I watched on Tuesday, the examination-in-chief of the first of only two witnesses started – three years after the case began.

·         Lawyers “talk back” more readily in Ghana (or at least in Kumasi) than in the UK.  I was surprised to see lawyers refusing to attend during the vacation, even though the judge was sitting, and requesting a different time for a case to be heard due to the cheaper price of parking tickets!

·         There is also more “banter” between lawyers in Ghanaian courts than in the UK.  Indeed, lawyers sometimes actually rise to their feet to crack jokes.  The judge’s attitude is generally one of benevolent tolerance. 

·         Examination-in-chief takes very different forms.  In one case I watched, the process was very familiar, with the witness being asked a series of non-leading questions to elicit their story.  In another, the lawyer started his witness off with a few questions, and then the witness narrated his version of events with minimal further intervention from his lawyer who, in fact, sat down for the rest of his evidence.

·         In most Ghanaian courts, the judge has to write down everything which is said in court.  This means that the examination of witnesses and legal submissions progress very slowly, as speech must be almost at dictation pace.

I also spent time sitting in the court of Justice Angeline Mensah-Homiah.  During one case, whilst I was sitting quietly listening to proceedings, Her Ladyship suddenly announced my presence in court and asked me to introduce myself to the bar.  At this, some seven or eight bewigged and gowned lawyers immediately swivelled round to stare at me.  This was somewhat disconcerting.  A little later, after some particularly frivolous comments from the bar, Her Ladyship said reprovingly, “you are honoured to have your sister from the UK observing you.  She will go back and say people talk a lot at the bar”.  “That’s because we are friendlier here,” observed one lawyer. 

Court of Appeal and High Court at Kumasi

I was at Kumasi airport on my way back to Accra when the news broke of President John Evans Atta Mills’ death.  It was a memorable moment: I suddenly became aware of raised voices and a great deal of commotion.  I assumed that a plane was delayed, or something similar, but then everyone rushed to look at a television screen and I realised it was something more serious.  It was amazing to see the rapidity with which events moved once the President’s death had been announced: by half 8 that evening, a national week of mourning had been declared, the campaigning for December’s general election suspended, and a new President sworn in.