Mahama vows return to PNDC era of kangaroo courts; Promises reintroduction of public tribunals
National Democratic Congress ( NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, has said he will reintroduce the public tribunals system if he wins the elections.
In what is clearly a promise to return to the kangaroo court system of the bloody PNDC era, the former President said the tribunals will have lay panel members.
According to him, the inclusion of lay panel members will bring public confidence in the judiciary.
He was speaking at the closing of the 4th annual NDC Lawyers Conference in Ho on Sunday, September 1.
Current courts
There are currently 5 levels of courts: district courts, circuit courts, High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.
Background
Soon after Jerry Rawlings returned to power in the 1981 coup, his Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government established a “revolutionary” court system.
Consisting of public tribunals which operated within the country’s judicial system, that parallel system for the administration of justice showed a clear disregard for normal judicial procedures.
Critics of the tribunal system say, it was created to further the administration’s political interests, and only a handful of verdicts handed down by the courts run contrary to the government’s wishes. “The public tribunals were the cornerstone of the government’s institutionalized violation of human rights. The procedures followed under the tribunal system contradicted due process of law,” a legal scholar stated.
