How independent is the judiciary of the fourth republic of Ghana ?
Introduction
The government of Ghana support, fund and create judiciary of Ghana and it relies on the executive to enforce judicial rulings. Moreover, the independent judiciary does not offer formal constitutional protections. The fourth republic of Ghana has two levels of courts. Superior courts include the Supreme court, the high court, the appeals court, the lower court, and the regional tribunal decreed by the parliament. Under the new constitution parliament, that court Act 1933 passed and abolished the country’s national public tribunal in July 1993.
Moreover, the PNDC regime related to the lower public tribunals was also eliminated by the Adeje 29 June 1994. Along with the court’s Act, the verdict handed down in courts can be appealed to higher courts according to the regular court system of the country ( Amnesty, 1993).
Judiciary had little independence under the PNDC regime, but in the fourth republic, the supreme court made decisions independently. For example, the Supreme court made an order in favor of the opposition New patriotic party in a number of cases against the government Ghana Human Rights Quarterly Oct.-Dec. 1993e, 7; West Africa 22 Aug. in one landmark case, NPP challenged the constitutional validity of the Public Order decree (NRCD 6. There was a need for police to ensure security in a public gathering. According to paragraph 21. (d) of the constitution, there was no need for permits according to the country and ordered the general inspector of police to circulate notice of ruling through the country. Country reports 1993 state that the government tries to publicize the rulings and allow demonstrations without any permission.
One more case that shows the independence of the judiciary in fourth Ghana is the argument of NPP about the refusal to give equal access to state owner Ghana broadcasting according to budget. But the supreme court ordered the GBC to provide a fair opportunity and equal facilities Ghana Human rights Quarterly Oct-Dec, 1993e.) in this research, several arguments are stated to show how independent the judiciary is in the fourth republic of Ghana compared to the previous regime.
Research Aim
The main purpose of the research is to find out the arguments, examples, and cases to prove the fourth republic of Ghana has an independent judiciary how the judiciary in Ghana is active. The supreme court rulings in elections of 2016. Because of judiciary activism how the corrupt and fraud parties are unable to win elections. The research report is about the policies, laws, and acts the judiciary follows to govern the country. Moreover, the research aims to find the difference in human rights in previous regimes and the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
Research Questions
How do different legal actors and political people understand judicial independence and judicial accountability?
What is the new arrangement for protecting judicial independence tell us about the protecting change in the relationship between parliament, government, and judiciary?
What is a day-to-day context in which issues arise because of judicial independence and accountability?
Who are guardians of judicial independence and accountability? Does coordination exist between them?
Literature Review
In Ghana, the control of power since independence was different. It alternated between the military and civilian regimes. According to Gyening researcher, Ghana had a military rule for more than 22 years while civilians ruled for 39 years. After undergoing military rule, the fourth republic of Ghana got a conversion of a democratic constitutional civilian rule having freedom of expression and freedom of media. During that time, the approach of formulation of policies was used. Because of this transformation, citizens started expecting from the law and expected to have livelihood sue to result-oriented policies, but unfortunately, such policies didn’t produce the expected outcome( Aryee, 2000).
In previous regimes, such positive results were not seen. Due to this reason, scholars showed interest and studied factors that ensure the policy success in new Ghana compared to previous regimes( Grace, 2017). During previous policies, there was observed corrupt nature of the Government and poor performance. Many citizens even questioned that they were spending better life under military rules. After 26 years of regulations, it was expected to minimize or complete eradication of the problems like financial mismanagement, misconduct, and corruption(Nkansah, 2016). The procurement Act was implemented that was full of bribes, non-compliance, and procurement regulations.
For example, during the Kufour regime, the ministry of Health awarded 335 million dollars to Dr. Arthur, who denied the procurement Act. He confirmed the award without understanding the compliance to procedures of PPA during an interview with the media(Grace, 2008).
Another survey was done in which interviews of 900 people were taken in 2005. Out of these, 62% believed that the government was faithful in awarding contracts, while others responded that the contract was against fair competition, procurement, and transparency(Abdulai, 2014). These examples define the civilian government as not intended to address issues on a national level; instead, they were actors.
One more aspect of the previous regime was that it was difficult to hike the process of goods hoarding goods while it was considered reasonable to engage in activities like patriotic ventures and communal labor. Such activities were the reason for the new debate that Ghana deserved the development milestone. There is a need to differentiate between two systems of government (Koduah, 2015). It was because it was affecting policy and must provide reasons for the peculiar outcomes. The study on this title focuses on the comparative analysis of policy formulation styles with regard to the judiciary system. The comparison is between the NDC under the leadership of Jerry John and the fourth republic regime of NPP under John Agyekum.
In the context of practice, the findings of a study by different researchers and authors state that the policy formulation under the fourth republic regime judiciary system will improve performance in Ghana. Also, the decisions will be better (Nkansah, 2016). Plus, the insights show that this system’s flaws will reduce decision errors related to policy. The study will provide the comprehension of both civilian and military regime systems and policy formulation strategies.
The thesis is about comparing the judiciary system in both civilian and military regimes that play constructive roles in the sustenance of Human rights, promotion, and enforcement. Plus, it focuses on the freedom of civilians in the country. There is a lack of inconsistency in the judiciary system buy civil and political rights are substantial. There is a lack of unanimity in enforcing the socio-economic rights that the constitution provides.
In previous regimes, there was seen a gap in Human rights jurisprudence, and there was the negation of values. But the literature and research have found that judicial review, promotion, and protection of human rights under this system are powerful. Judiciary is offering equal respect regarding prudential and purposive approaches and making the right decisions. This, in turn offering Socioeconomic rights to civilians in Ghana.
The theoretical framework of the study is the theory of the Separation of Powers. For a good government, there is a need for separation of powers(Polsby, 2000). This explains the constitutional safeguards provided to ensure the legislative and judicial components exist with owner function and authority (Thurber, 1991). Another reason for the separation of power is to defend liberty and keep the government on track (Mbah, 2007). One thing in the system added is to avoid the corrupts and eliminate the emergence of dictatorship. The separation theory was applied in ancient Greeks with a mixed government of democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy. Aristotle favored such mixed government. In the civil government, it was observed there were chances of corruption because the same person has the power to make laws and execute them. Therefore, it was concluded that democracy couldn’t work without separation of powers as there are chances of civil disobedience and revolution. It was because of the concentration of powers in one hand. For the sustainability of democracy’s indispensable and imperative results, the theory of separation of power is required, and it acts as a cornerstone for democracy.
The study is divided into five chapters. The first one is about the introduction, problem statement, significance of the study, organization of research, and objectives. The first chapter will discuss the structure of courts and judiciary in Ghana(Nkansah, 2016). There will be a detail of the composition of jurisdiction, concept, and contribution of the judiciary of Ghana.
Chapter two provides an overview of the conceptual and theoretical literature. There will be a review of already existing literature with comparative differences and similarities that exist between the military and the fourth republic of Ghana. There will be a brief discussion about human rights in Ghana’s constitution also.
Chapter three is about the data from the basis of the research reported in the research proposal and an overview of the methodology used in the study(Nkansah, 2016). The chapter also describes the ultra-Vires notion of judicial review according to the constitution context and foundation of judicial review in 1992. There will be a discussion of the research questions, courts duty, and protection of human rights.
Chapter four will describe the court’s decisions and their benefits for protecting human rights in Ghana. It will highlight the role of the judiciary in enforcing the Human rights provisions of the constitution.
Chapter 5 is about the review of the thesis and recommendation for attaining judicial consistency for the enforcement of all human rights dictated in the constitution of Ghana(Grace, 2008). Moreover, there will be the addition of the benefits of the judiciary system in Ghana that the public is getting and cons related to such a system in the fourth republic of Ghana.
Importance and interest for this proposal
The proposal for judiciary independence is interesting. Through this, there will be a discussion of engagement of the judges with parliament, government, and judges through the proper studies of this high-profile project. The main aim of those projects is to discuss the key points on judicial independence. This includes engaging the legal and political actors through seminars or interviews—developing a better understanding of the respective roles and requirements of judiciary, parliament, and government. Plus, the development of the theory to explain the rationale for the independence of the judiciary in the fourth republic of Ghana. It includes the practical requirement and proper limits. Because of all these reasons, the project is interesting as there is a lot to learn and gather facts about judicial independence and its role(Nkansah,2016). Ministry of Justice and senior judiciary play an integral role in managing the judicial structure in the state.
Judicial independence in the fourth republic of Ghana is the independence of courts from the government that is principal political power. The judiciary in-state works according to law, safeguards individuals’ rights and takes various actions in the state according to Acts and laws(Owusu, 2018). Judiciary is independent, but the political parties take it negatively. There are rare cases when politicians admire judicial decisions. There is little attention by politicians to protect and promote the judiciary in the fourth republic of Ghana.
It describes the constitutional changes regarding independence and accountability issues in the state. According to the constitutional Reform Act 2005, Lord Chancellor has imposed the statutory duty on all ministers to uphold independence. According to law, the judiciary comprises the constitution, enactment made under the authority of Parliament established under this constitution, rules and regulations made by the constitution, existing law, and common law. The superior court of judiciary rules the regulations of doctrines, equity, customary law.
In the independent state, there is a complete human right justice Act(Owusu, 2018). It was established in 1993 to establish a commission on human rights and administrative Justice for investigation of the complaints of violations of freedom, corruption, abuse of power, unfair treatment, and injustice.
Scope According( To Previous Work
Judiciary is known as the partial to law and impartial to individuals and parties. It means judges are liable to apply the law. In contrast, impartiality means judges must not pressure political parties to make decisions(Owusu,2018). Thus, they can decide according to law and Acts. In contrast, in previous regimes judiciary was not allowed to make decisions; rather, they made decisions what political parties did. According to Judge William Crunch, the main purpose of giving the judiciary independent rights was to protect individual liberty and democracy. “Becomes the duty of the Judiciary calmly to poise the scales of justice, unmoved by the armed power, undisturbed by the clamor of the multitude”(Teital, 1996). According to previous works and research, external influences exist compared to internal ones that damaged the legal system. Some typical issues were seen when the Chief justices assigned the cases to the judicial professionals and assigned certain work or ideologies to political parties.
According to the constitution 1992, the main purpose of separation of power is to build the pillars of a democratic regime to help the country move in the right direction.
Scholars have defined the concept of the judiciary in politics and studied the growing role of supreme courts in governance. Due to this thinking, literature has been produced defining the role of courts in transitioning democracies that is equivalent to legal process and activism. Rudi Teitel founded the role of the judiciary in transition states in 1996. Political transitions are the ideological shift related to justice and law in society (ibid, 2014). Moreover, law partially refuses the role of the source of order and stability in society in the sense of normative transformation of legal and moral codes. (Teital, 1996).
As compared to the previous regime, the constitution is the source of law but not parliament. The constitution Défense the limits for the validity of executive and legislative acts. No political party has the right to derogate from executive and law action(Owusu, 2018). The operative presumptions are created through this review that Human rights, Rule of Law, and constitutionalism create a hierarchy of laws or norms according to the fourth republic Act of Ghana. Moreover, no law or political value outside the constitution carries enough weight to prevail against the constitution event.
The main rationale of the study includes that sovereign must be the will of most people. The constitution defines the expression of people’s intention, and the written constitution states the law and its duty of the judiciary to define the law properly.
After the formation of law of the fourth republic of Ghana has formed the liberal constitution in the world. It guarantees human rights, and no political party is allowed to violate the laws(Owusu, 2018). Constitution has declared the full powers of the Judiciary since the judiciary takes an independent decision and has protected Human rights in the country.
The past political regimes in Ghana have incidents of violation of rules and human rights. In contrast, the fourth republic of Ghana has a strong impact on the protection of Human rights. In 1982, Rawlings Led showed unwillingness to return to multiparty democracy. In 1990, the regime was under sudden pressure that a ban on political parties must be open and allow them to protect human rights (Ninsun 1998).
Research Methodology
To properly define and show evidence about the independence of the judiciary in the fourth republic compared to the previous regime, the researcher will use the qualitative method and comparative. The comparative technique in which literature will be compared to understand the law and acts of Ghana of the fourth republic of Ghana and the previous regimens. Moreover, the qualitative method will be used to know Ghana’s complete laws and acts (Owusu, 2018). The methodologies and researches by various writers will be studied to complete the search on the given title. AKD Frempong studied innovation in the electoral process in Ghana in 2008. While research by the Owusu indicated about the democracy in the fourth republic of Ghana in2018. Moreover, other writers also created reports for a better and independent judiciary system in this state.
Facilities To Complete The Research
To complete the research in the given title, the researcher will require complete information regarding the research questions. There is a need for study material from internet sources, the law of Ghana, and research work from the writers and researchers. Moreover, books available in the library regarding the constitution, law, and Act of Ghana will be studied.
Completion Of Research In Given Timeline
The researcher will divide the chapters into parts and then complete them according to their sections.
| Activities | 10 Days | 5 days | 8 days | 15 days | 15 days | 15 days | 5 days | 5 days | 10 days |
| 1. Designing a proposal | |||||||||
| 2. Problem statement discussion | |||||||||
| 3. Methodology | |||||||||
| 4. Gathering information from journals and research papers | |||||||||
| 5. Analyzing information | |||||||||
| 6. Concluding the report | |||||||||
| 7. Submission of proposal |
Conclusion
This research proposal is about the difference between the post-independence government system and the judiciary system. There are details about the problems in the previous regime and how an independent judiciary in Ghana is offering benefits to civilians. Plus, how it has introduced a fair democratic system. The highlighted problems related to economic injustice with each regime, efficiency of the judiciary system, and democracy.
References
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Owusu-Mensah, I., & Rice, J. (2018). The judiciary and democracy in Ghana’s fourth republic. Journal of African Elections, 17(2), 44-65.