WORKSHOP ON ELECTION DISPUTE ADJUDICATION OPENS (SPREAD)

SEVENTY judges drawn from the High and Appeal Courts are attending a workshop on Election Dispute Adjudication in preparation for the national elections in December.
The two-day workshop is aimed at preparing the judiciary logistically, psychologically and professionally to meet the challenges of adjudicating petitions that may arise from the upcoming elections.
Opening the workshop, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, said the judiciary was the ultimate channel constitutionally empowered to resolve all electoral disputes arising from presidential and parliamentary elections.
She said the specialised nature of electoral adjudication made it imperative that judges were sensitised to their role in the electoral process, the procedural and substantive procedural laws governing the adjudication of electoral disputes and offences.
She said duty called on them to exercise their mandate competently, in consonance with the mission statement of the Judicial Service.
The Chief Justice also appealed to judges to extend Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to election disputes explaining that the ADR was not about power sharing.
She said further that the primary ADR processes of mediation or conciliation and arbitration were the most widely known mechanisms.
She observed that there were well- structured procedures to assist disputants to honestly evaluate the likely chances of success or outcome of court cases, before and during trial.
The Chief Justice said in everyday life a fair number of people rushed to court at the slightest sign that they have been wronged, without really taking time to assess their chances of success, or even where they do, they carried exaggerated opinions about the rightness of their cause.
One of the Adder’s key methods is the Early Neutral Evaluation to assist parties to dispassionately assess the strengths and weaknesses of their respective cases.
This, she said, would enable them to decide whether to carry on or terminate court proceedings in the face of the obvious, and so avoid the financial and emotional costs that come with unwanted litigation.
She emphasised that Ghanaians have sent out a very strong message that clearly shows their preference for non-violence throughout the elections and beyond it, so that they can legitimately carry on with their life in peace and freedom.