Judiciary of Ghana

[1] There is no formal constitutional structure for the lower level courts and tribunals, as these are established on a case-by-case basis by Parliament.

[2] All matters pertaining to the interpretation of the Constitution or evaluating an excess use of power by Parliament or any other authority figure in Ghana falls exclusively within the realm of jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Justices must have completed at least 10 years of legal practice before they can be considered for the job[5] and there is currently 108 members of the High Court.

[4] Due to the vast array of subjects the High Court hears, it is divided into various subject areas including: Commercial, Land, General Jurisdiction, Divorce and Matrimonial, Probate and Letters of Administration, Labour, Criminal, Financial, and Human Rights.

[6] Higher court judges wear British-style outfits, including wigs made of horsehair and scarlet-coloured robes.

[10] For example, during John Kuofor's administration, the Supreme Court ruled against his decision to remove a Deputy Director of Ghana's immigration service, Honadri Okine, on the grounds that it was politically motivated.

[12] Much of the judicial work in Ghana takes place at the lower level courts that hear many criminal and civil cases.

[13] As the population of Ghana is rapidly expanding to more than 29 million people,[14] these bodies are often faced with massive backlogs of cases that need to be heard.

[13] Due to how backed up cases are, and how costly they are to continue, many citizens have little interest in appealing a verdict for fear it might prolong the process.

[17] For example, high level health officials were sentenced to 1 year in prison for stealing approximately $130,000 belonging to another office in Ghana.

[18] Thus, while the majority of Ghanaians show faith and trust in their legal institutions, many still remain skeptical of the courts[18]