A former Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short has backed calls by judges for an upward review of their remunerations and conditions of service.

Supreme Court judge, William Atuguba, who spoke on behalf of the Judges at the Annual General Meeting of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana on Wednesday, demanded that judges be given some extra allowances to compensate them for their efforts at ensuring justice in the country.

Justice Atuguba
These demands came days after over 150 lower court judges threatened to abandon   the courts if their demands for a 10 percent salary increase was not adhered to.

Salaries and conditions of service inadequate

Justice Short admitted that such calls were unusual but still warranted given “the enormous responsibility that judges have” as he maintained that “their salaries and conditions of service are quite inadequate.”

He explained that the need for such a review becomes more apparent when judges retire as they now “have to pay for you own medical bills, you don’t have any security, and you don’t have any other facility.

Thus he said, “I think these allowances which they are calling for are in the right direction and they should be consolidated.”

“I agree that it is unusual for a judge of his standing to make this call in public but I don’t think it is improper. I think if the judges feel they are not adequately paid, they have the right to make that call in public,” he added.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana