Srem Sai backs jury trial reform, not abolishing

Calls to scrap jury trials in Ghana should be resisted, Deputy Attorney General Dr Justice Srem Sai has said, arguing that the better path is to modernise the system rather than abolish it.

Addressing guests at the Supreme Court @150 luncheon at the University of Ghana’s Cedi Conference Centre, he said technological innovation offers a practical route to improving jury trials while preserving an important part of Ghana’s judicial tradition.

His position was that reform should strengthen old institutions, not erase them.

Dr Srem Sai used the occasion to place the debate within a wider reflection on the country’s legal history. He said Ghana’s democratic development has been shaped by landmark court decisions that affirmed the rule of law and reinforced the principle that justice belongs to every citizen, not only the powerful.

For that reason, he argued, the judiciary must continue to stand above partisan contestation.

He warned against efforts to draw the courts into political battles, stressing that judicial credibility depends on independence, restraint and fidelity to due process. In his view, once the courts are protected from political pressure, they are better able to serve as trusted arbiters in national life.

The Deputy Attorney General therefore urged a collective commitment to constitutionalism and to shielding the bench from undue interference.

At the same time, he made the case for a forward-looking justice system. That, he said, should include deeper digitalisation, broader access to justice and reforms that make the courts more responsive to present-day demands.

His message, in essence, was that Ghana must protect the foundations of its judiciary while equipping it for the future.