Chief Justice launches specialized courts to expedite small claims and debt recovery

Twelve courts comprising eight in the Greater Accra and four in the Ashanti regions are set to benefit from small claims and debt recovery courts as part of efforts to adjudicate claims from financial institutions.

The Chief Justice, Gertrude Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo on Tuesday, August 6 launched the specialized courts after concerns were raised about the significant rise in the number of claims made by individuals and companies at the district courts across the country.

In its assessment of the caseload in the legal year, the Quality Assurance Unit and the Monitoring Department of the Judicial Service after sampling seven district courts in Accra found that there were 773 active cases in Adenta District Courts 1&2, as of May, 2024.

“Out of this number, Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd (Now Bills Company Limited) alone had filed a total of 120 cases representing approximately 15% of the total active cases pending in the court. The data further revealed that over 70% of the total cases filed by Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd were for claims less than GH₵5000,” Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo explained.

The specialized courts, she intimated, will hear cases every working day in the afternoons and on Saturdays.

“The courts will sit from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm on working days and 8:30 am to 4:00 pm on Saturdays.

For the Greater Accra Region, District Courts in Ashaiman, Teshie, La, will operate as the Saturday courts while District Courts in Weija, Sowutuom, District Court ‘2’, Adenta and Gbese will operate as the weekday afternoon courts.

“For the Ashanti Region, District Court ‘2’, Asokwa and District Court ‘1’, Prempeh Assembly Hall will operate as the Saturday courts, while Circuit Court ‘2’, Asokwa and Asokwa Circuit Court Conference Hall will operate as the weekday afternoon courts.

“We expect that with the launch of these Small Claims Debt Recovery Courts and the cooperation of citizens, and the businesses involved, the nation can confront head-on and in a speedy manner, the challenge of the nearly 55,000 claims that Quick Credit & Investment Micro-Credit Ltd alone has expressed the intention of filing in the Lower Courts. It is to be noted that though Quick Credit may have provoked this initiative, the courts are a national asset open to adjudicating claims from all financial institutions so that the time value of liquidated claims is not eroded by delays in the courts.

“Indeed, the provision of Saturday courts has been operational for several years now, and serves primarily the needs of national agencies that need to recover sums of money from significant numbers of citizens and businesses such as SSNIT. It is this already existing template that is being used for the small claims courts,” Chief Justice Torkonoo added.

Source:onuaonline.com