Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackah-Boafo, has said Ghana should consider introducing live broadcasts for some Supreme Court proceedings to improve public access to the work of the judiciary.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Law, he said the courts are already public institutions and greater access should be considered.
“In the first place, we have the transparency of the court being a public forum, so that anybody at all can go to the court to view the work of the court.”
Justice Ackah-Boafo said other countries have adopted different approaches to making court proceedings accessible to the public.
“In the United States Supreme Court, they don’t show live. They give you audio recording or audio live streaming, so you can listen to the argument by audio. When they are done, you’ll see the transcript online.”
He added that Canada and the United Kingdom also provide public access through online streaming.
“The Canadians have live streaming, but it’s not on national television. It’s on a system they call CPAC. The UK has something similar, also not on terrestrial television, but on the court’s website.”
Based on those examples, he said Ghana could adopt a similar approach.
“I think that yes, the time has come for us to have maybe live broadcasts of some of these oral arguments.”
