Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo has inaugurated 12 special courts dedicated to handling small claims and debt recovery cases.
Eight of these courts are located in the Greater Accra Region, while the remaining four are in the Ashanti Region.
The establishment of these courts follows a significant increase in small claims cases filed at the district courts in Ghana, primarily driven by cases from a single company, Bills MicroCredit.
At the opening ceremony, Justice Esaaba Torkonoo highlighted that “over 70% of the total cases filed by Bills MicroCredit were for claims less than GHC5,000.”
This surge in filings has added to the existing workload of the district courts, which were already under strain, thereby affecting the efficiency of the court shift system introduced by the Judicial Service.
To alleviate this burden, the Judicial Service, with support from Bills MicroCredit, created the small claims and debt recovery courts.
These courts will operate every weekday afternoon and on Saturdays to expedite the resolution of these cases.
“For the Greater Accra Region, District Court, Ashaiman, District Court, Teshie, District Court, Kasoa and District Court, La, will operate as the Saturday courts while District Court, Weija, District Court, Sowutuom, District Court ‘2’, Adenta and District Court, Gbese will operate as the weekday afternoon courts,” Chief Justice Torkonoo noted during the opening of the courts.
The head of the judiciary at the opening of the courts at the La District Courts expressed appreciation to Bills MicroCredit for opting to support the operations of the 12 courts.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Bills MicroCredit, Richard Quaye, on the other hand, noted that the courts will go a long way to boost their business.
He explained that, his outfit has so far filed 30,000 cases across the country.
“One significant challenge we have faced is the sheer volume of defaulters resulting in our need to resort to the courts for recovery — over 30,000 — filed by our company seeking expedited hearings.
“The establishment of the new Small Claims Court will greatly alleviate the burden on our judicial system, ensuring that cases are resolved more quickly and efficiently,” Richard Quaye said at the opening of the courts.
