Public Complaints Secretariats set up for post 2012 election petitions

The Judicial Service, on the authority and direction of the Hon. Lady Chief Justice, Mrs. Justice Georgina T. Wood, has established two Public Complaints Secretariats in anticipation of post-2012 election petitions. They are the Chief Justice’s Secretariat and the Office of the Chief Registrar-General.

The mandate of the two Secretariats will be to receive and file complaints and queries from the public on pending election petitions before the courts after the December 7 general elections and take the necessary action on them.

The purpose of this arrangement is to ensure that post-election petitions that are placed before the courts are determined in a timely fashion. The two Secretariats can be reached by email on elections@judicial.gov.gh and edisputes@judicial.gov.gh and by telephone on the following hotlines: 0203356029 and 0203356030.

This initiative of the Hon. Lady Chief Justice is part of a raft of measures that the Judicial Service has taken towards the speedy disposal of election disputes. The Service in 2008 produced a Manual on Election Adjudication in Ghana ahead of the general elections of that year to serve as a useful guide for Judges in adjudicating electoral disputes.

A 2nd Edition, which is an improvement on the maiden one, has been produced this year. It includes subject matters that were not previously covered in the first edition in addition to a digest of some previously decided cases and a list of statutes that are applicable to the conduct of elections in Ghana.

Also, as was the case in 2008, Judges who will be hearing election related disputes have received directives from the Chief Justice to sit on non-working days, namely, weekends and public or statutory holidays.
 
Signed
Justice Alex B. Poku-Acheampong
Judicial Secretary