US embassy cable - 04ACCRA2172

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 002172 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR ECA/PE/V/G/A EBUTLER; AF/PD LWKOENGETER; PZABRISKIE; 
IIP/T/DHR JJASIK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OIIP, OEXC, SCUL, PGOV, GH 
SUBJECT: FY04 SCP: "JUDICIAL REFORM AND 
ETHICS" - AUGUST 13 - SEPTEMBER 5, 2004 - 
EVALUATION 
 
 
1. Summary:  Five members of Ghana's 
judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court Chief 
Justice, participated in a three-week funded 
single country International Visitor 
Leadership program under the theme "Judicial 
Reform and Ethics". Participant line-up was: 
Justice George Kingsley Acquah, Chief Justice 
of Ghana; Justice Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo, 
Supreme Court Judge; Justice Victor Jones 
Mawulom Dotse, Appeals Court Judge; Justice 
Mariama Owusu, High Court Judge; and Judge 
Wilhelmina Hammond, Circuit Court Judge.  The 
Chief Justice and other IVLP participants 
shared conclusions and observations from the 
trip with DCM, POL and PAS personnel at a 
recent luncheon hosted by the DCM at his 
residence. End summary. 
 
2. Description: a) At luncheon given in their honor by 
the DCM and attended by PAS and POL officers, the 
Ghanaian Chief Justice and other high-ranking judges who 
recently returned from an International Visitors 
Leadership Program in the United States, noted that the 
US judicial and legal systems are firmly rooted in the 
principles of law and order, compliance with the law, 
strict enforcement of the law, respect for the rule of 
law and the independence of the judiciary.  The judges 
indicated that their visit was a great success, and 
expressed surprise at the extent to which courts in the 
US were computerized, and especially so at the 
"Courtroom 21" in Williamsburg, Virginia. Chief Justice 
Acquah, who heads the Ghanaian judiciary, has 
recommended that, as part of the judicial reforms in 
Ghana, the US Sentencing Commission should be studied 
closely and "implemented in Ghana".  He talked about the 
group's visit in Washington DC to the Federal Judicial 
Center, the Department of Justice, the American Bar 
Association Center and the offices of "Judicial Watch", 
an NGO, where they had first hand knowledge and 
experience in the area of federalism and state, as well 
as a general overview of the state judicial system. 
 
b) Chief Justice Acquah recommended that institutional 
linkages be established between the Faculty of Law of 
the University of Ghana, the Ghana School of Law, and 
"Courtroom 21", to enable young Ghanaian attorneys to 
receive further legal training and exposure to the 
latest state-of-the art court technology. 
 
c) The Chief Justice noted that caseload management in 
US courts is "excellent", and marveled that there is a 
system in place designed to expedite the hearing and 
determination of cases.  He has proposed that it would 
be worthwhile to incorporate some procedures used in the 
US civil and criminal courts to the new rules being 
designed for Ghanaian courts.  The Ghanaian team also 
noted with interest, that, in the US, experts in a 
particular field of endeavor are appointed as managers 
and receivers of properties that have been placed under 
court injunctions, and that, sometimes the parties 
involved in the case make their own nominations of who 
should manage the properties.  As a result of 
information gleaned from his trip, Justice Acquah has 
proposed to discard the Ghanaian system of appointing 
court registrars as managers and receivers of seized 
properties, and in their place, adopt the "US way".  He 
also recommended that the revised Ghanaian code of 
ethics for judges and magistrates should be submitted to 
Professor Steven Lubet, a law professor at the 
Northwestern University in Chicago, for his comments and 
advice. 
 
d) The group noted with fascination, and at the same 
time, regret, that the Cook County jail law library is 
better resourced and equipped than the Ghanaian Supreme 
Court library.  With the same fascination, they talked 
about their visit to the crime laboratory and of 
learning, firsthand, how it operated.  Also of great 
interest to the team were the Mental Health Courts they 
visited in Oklahoma City, where, according to what they 
saw, medical personnel, probation officers, the police 
and all other related offices collaborate to help in the 
rehabilitation of mentally-challenged convicts. 
They lamented that due to bad weather and flight 
problems they were unable to visit the tribal courts in 
Oklahoma.  A visit to those courts, they said, would 
have afforded them the opportunity to learn how the 
formal court system in the US blends with tribal court 
decisions, and how a combination of the two systems 
could be applied to the Ghanaian court system vis--vis 
Ghanaian tribal courts. 
 
e) On Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), the team 
observed that this system is widely used and has been 
integrated into the US judicial system.  Justice Acquah 
noted that JAMS, a local NGO based in California, has 
made great strides in the use of ADR.  He said that the 
appellate mediation program they learned about in 
Philadelphia is a unique system which deserves to be 
studied closely for possible replication in Ghana. 
Another observation by the group was that important US 
institutions like the court system, the Department of 
Justice, the FBI and police are all well-respected and 
adequately resourced, and there are sufficient checks 
and balances to ensure that all these organizations do 
not abuse their powers; stating further that these 
organs of state collaborated very well with prison and 
probation officers and medical personnel. 
f) On home hospitality, Chief Justice Acquah said that 
there were numerous dinner invitations and visits to 
homes, and he expressed the gratitude of the group to 
the organizers of the program for the warm reception. 
The group appreciated the excellent coordination of all 
events and activities, especially mentioning their 
English Language Officer Dr. Raiford, whose help and 
support was invaluable.  They also highly commended 
Judges Anne Claire Williams, of the US Appeals Court in 
Chicago, Vicki Miles-LaGrange, US District Court Judge 
in Oklahoma, and Theodore McKee, US Circuit Court Judge 
in Philadelphia, for their willingness to share valuable 
information, advice and support for the group.  Another 
group they mentioned was the "very pleasant team" from 
the Department of State, who met and welcomed them 
during their administrative briefing.  They expressed 
their intention to follow up on discussions with the 
Federal Judicial Center in Washington DC to explore 
possible areas of collaboration and institutional 
linkages. 
 
3.  Cities and Dates:   The program took the 
visitors to Washington DC (08/13 - 20, 2004); 
Williamsburg, Virginia (08/20 - 21, 2004); 
Chicago, Illinois (08/21 - 25, 2004); Oklahoma 
City, Oklahoma (08/25 - 28, 2004); Los 
Angeles, California (08/28 - 09/1, 2004); 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (09/01 - 09/03, 
2004); and New York City (09/02/09/05, 2004). 
 
4.  Justification:  This Single Country Project is a 
further attempt by Mission to help the Ghanaian 
judiciary with its reforms and to help improve access to 
justice in the country.  Mission has supported the 
Ghanaian judiciary since 1997 when a group of Ghanaian 
legal experts visited the US on a Citizen Exchange 
program to learn about ADR, and this group succeeded in 
promoting the use of ADR in the Ghanaian court system 
and in local communities. 
 
5.  MPP Goals:  This program has given a major boost to 
relations between Mission and the office of the Chief 
Justice, and the Ghanaian judiciary as a whole. 
 
6.  Results/Impact:  Excellent.  The Single Country 
Project participants think that this program has been a 
"great eye opener".  To Ms. Justice Owusu, this visit 
was her first to the US, and according to her, she was 
not disappointed. 
 
7.  Quality of USG Support: Excellent.  The project was 
fully funded. 
 
 
 
Yates