Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Ghana’s Chief Justice nominee, has advocated for electoral calendar reform, proposing that presidential elections be held earlier, on November 7 or 8, to give the Supreme Court enough time to resolve disputes before the presidential swearing-in on January 7.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie spoke before Parliament’s Appointments Committee, arguing that Ghana’s current election timeframe shortens the judicial review process, potentially weakening trust in the impartiality and effectiveness of electoral dispute settlement.
“We came to the conclusion that it should be possible to have the election petition concluded before 7 January, the inauguration day,” he reiterated.
“The first suggestion that came, which we think was a masterstroke, was that we should have the elections on 7 or 8 November.”
He clarified that a November election would result in a 57-day gap between the announcement of the results and the inauguration, easily surpassing CI 99’s 42-day window for petition hearings.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie considered delays brought on by procedural complexity, citing the 2013 decision to admit a political party as a respondent as “one of the greatest mistakes we made in that particular trial,” while drawing lessons from the 2013 and 2020 petitions.
He suggested procedural changes including allowing electronic court document service and reducing response times in order to increase efficiency even more.
“Instead of waiting one week for the response, we can reduce that number of days to, let’s say, four. By the time we get to about the 30th of November, pleadings would have closed, issues would have been settled, and the trial would begin,” he stated.
He emphasised that in order to adapt legislative and constitutional mechanisms to these changes, Parliament’s action will be crucial.
He said to the committee, “We shall need the inputs of Parliament when it comes to LIs and CIs to be prepared.”
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie came to the conclusion that these measures are necessary to guarantee the prompt and reliable administration of justice.
“In a trial like that, we can say it should take no more than two weeks. And once two weeks are there, judgment should be given within one week, that way, by 7 January, we will have our President who will strike the sword and swear to his people.” he stated.
Source: newsthemegh.com