Track your cases at police stations – Public urged

The Programmes Manager for Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Esther Ahulu, has urged the public to insist on the use of the Cases Tracking System (CTS) when they lodge complaints at the police station.

She believes this will help improve Ghana’s justice system and knowledge on ADR.

Ghana’s criminal justice system is confronted with numerous challenges that inhibit effective and equitable justice delivery. These challenges include lack of effective collaboration and communication among key justice institutions, leading to overpopulation of the prisons by remand prisoners with expired warrants and others not having their cases heard within reasonable time.

As part of efforts to address these challenges and to improve justice delivery, the government in 2018 launched the CTS Project to support key justice sector institutions to collect, collate and harmonize data for effective justice delivery.

But after the launch, some key institutions refuse to use the system.

Madam Ahulu says government needs to provide the needed support for key institutions for the implementation of the Case Tracking Systems.

“Although there have been a lot of education and awareness creation, it seems most Ghanaians do not appreciate the CTS, so we are here once again to encourage the public to be champions of the CTS by insisting on the use of CTS when lodging complaints at the police station.”

She added that “government should make sure all the necessary support is provided such as Laptops and internet to aid the smooth implementation of the Case Tracking System”.

In a related development, the Western Region Director for Legal Aid Commission, Sweetie Sowah, has recommended the use of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in quickly resolving cases.

“In short, ADR is out of court settlement and is to prevent animosity among both parties because it builds consensus in resolving conflict and allows the parties to deliberate on the issues in a mutually beneficial way.

“ADR has a lot of advantages because it doesn’t prolong in conflict resolution unlike the courts. It is also friendly and prevents one from spending time and money on case settlement.”

The programme, which was held at the SSNIT Conference hall in Takoradi, brought together a cross-section of the public including People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs), drivers and other interest groups.