The Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo has cautioned female magistrates against raising objections when they are posted to the hinterlands.
Speaking at the swearing in of new magistrates, she commended the phenomenon of a large number of females in the Judiciary, a situation she described as feminization of the Judiciary.
She observed that Ghana has made giant strides in the Judiciary, leapfrogging the United States of America which despite having a 700-year history of common law, had only recently appointed the first female against Ghana’s third.
“This is part of a process that I call the feminization of the Judiciary. The Judiciary is getting extremely feminized. Indeed, as CJ I stand here as the third and some countries with a 700-year history of the common law are now getting their first female CJ and we are in our third, so this country is moving in the direction of having female judges.
“Very soon when all of you move up it’s likely that the Supreme Court may have 70 percent women rather than the other way round, she noted to a room full of newly sworn in magistrates and families.
She indicated that as part of the feminisation process, female magistrates should be prepared to serve at any location they are posted, especially in the lesser-known corners of the country.
“What does this mean to you and what does it mean to me as the chief administrator of the Judiciary? It means I can send you to Tumu, Nkawkaw, Nsuatre, Nsuokyire and I should hear no quibble about your womanhood when it comes to going to those places because they’re part of Ghana. And they’re part of the undertaking that you have made in becoming magistrates.
“District courts are in every corner of the nation, and we serve the nation from these corners. Gone are the days when ladies were restricted to the cities and towns. Now we go into the hinterlands because the Judiciary is highly feminized,” Justice Torkonoo noted.
To the families of the magistrates, she urged them to throw their weight behind them in order for their service to be successful.
“This statement is made not only to the magistrates but also to the families herein gathered; husbands, mothers, brothers and sisters. These ladies must be released to go anywhere that they choose otherwise there’s no place in the Judiciary for them.”
Twenty-three new magistrates were sworn in by the Chief Justice at the Accra High Court complex, eleven of them were male while twelve were female.