EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF E-JUSTICE SYSTEM WILL IMPROVE JUSTICE DELIVERY: A FOCUS STUDY IN TAMALE METROPOLIS OF GHANA

Abstract

One hundred and twenty (120) respondents were interviewed to obtain information on the contribution of ejustice system in courts within the Tamale Metropolis. Most of the respondents were court users (45%), mainly males (68.3%), had some level of education (97.5%) and within the age group of 38-47 years (41.7%). Majority of the people interviewed were at the high court (55.8%). 92.5% (111) of the respondents admitted that the various courts have up to date e-justice equipment/devices and 60% indicated that they were installed in the past 1-3 years. Forty two respondents (35%) said that the e-justice system in the various courts are not always functioning whilst 31(25.8%) reported that the devices were always functioning. 75% of the respondents admitted that most of the e-justice devices in the various courts are obsolete and need to be replaced with modern ones. Civil, land and criminal cases in the high and district courts within four-year period (January 2009-January 2012), before the introduction of the e-justice system and the post-ejustice era were analyzed; and the results revealed that, there have been a dramatic improvement in absolute proportions of the number of high and district courts cases filed and disposed off during the post-electronic justice era than in the pree- justice era across all categories of cases within Tamale Metropolis. Therefore, effective management of e-justice system within the Metropolis will improve justice delivery