The Judicial Service has expanded jury lists to include all citizens qualified by law, including individuals from the private sector.
The reforms aim to address inefficiencies and strengthen the jury system to ensure fair and effective trials.
Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, who made this know at the opening of the 2025 Criminal Assizes Session in Accra noted the justice sector had become overly reliant on a limited pool of jurors, mostly clerical staff in civil or public service and some education officers.
“Some of the jurors were on jury duty for years, and in some cases, over a decade, making them almost ‘professional,’ and not the lay group with fresh exposure to legalities that they were needed to be,” she said.
Chief Justice Torkornoo highlighted inefficiencies caused by inadequate revisions of lists under s.213 of Act 30, resulting in jurors being assigned to multiple cases in different courts simultaneously.
She said brainstorming and collaboration had led to proposed reforms to improve the jury system’s efficiency and expand the juror pool.
“Over time, steps will be taken to further expand the pool from which jurors will be selected,” she stated.
The Chief Justice urged Presiding Judges and Registrars to ensure no juror was assigned to multiple courts and emphasized conducting day-to-day trials to complete cases efficiently.
She asked Judges to comply with the Practice Direction on Effective Case Completion Planning Strategies 2019 and the Practice Direction on Jury Trials implemented in May 2024.
Highlighting mandatory disclosure requirements per the Supreme Court’s decision in EUGENE BAFFOE-BONNIE v. THE REPUBLIC ([2017-2020] 1 SCGLR 327 @ 352), Chief Justice Torkornoo stressed the need for timely disclosures to help defendants prepare their defense and facilitate plea bargaining opportunities.
“The timeous filing of full disclosures would even inform accused persons or their lawyers of the opportunity to take advantage of Plea Bargaining,” she added.
