Justice Philip Bright Mensah, a nominee designated for the Supreme Court, has called on the government to enhance the power and capacity of the Appeal Court of Ghana.

Appearing before the Appointments Committee on Tuesday, June 17, he stated that existing structures must be modernized to equip the Court of Appeal with the necessary tools to handle cases that should not be handled at the Supreme Court.

To buttress his point, he cited the United Kingdom (UK), noting that only a few cases are referred to the Supreme Court because more cases end up at the Appeal Court.

In his submission, he also opposed a change in the retirement age for judges from 70 to 75 years.

Commenting on some reforms that need to be made at the Supreme Court, the nominee indicated that the capacity of both judges and registrars must be built up periodically. He noted that the wise saying “the law is in the bosom of the Judge” can be detrimental when the judge is not well educated in certain areas.

He emphasised that a Registrar who has not been trained and given premium capacity building can even mislead a Judge and the situation could affect the process of administering justice.

He also suggested that some laws in terms of time limit must be prescribed to speed up trials in certain cases at the Supreme Court.

On the issue of financial difficulties at the Judicial Service, the nominee agreed that instead of allocating 70% of the internally generated fund (IGF) to the consolidated fund, at least the current 30% of the IGF to the Judicial Service could be increased to 50% to help cater for some needs at the Judiciary.

In addition, he opined that the prerogative of mercy must be handled by the presidency and not pushed to the Supreme Court for advice. “Prerogative of Mercy must rest with the President,” he stated.

Sharing his views on the country's fight against illegal mining, also known as galamsey, he noted the current laws in the Minerals and Mining Act 703 are enough to stop the menace.

He added that what is needed now is the implementation of the laws.

Another problem he cited regarding the pollution of the water bodies by foreigners was the issue of the language barrier.

He suggested that some judges must be trained to speak and understand the Chinese language to speed up trials when they are arrested and charged.