More than 2,000 people arrested since judicial workers began a nationwide strike on 2 November are waiting for decisions on bail or remand, the Centre for Legitimacy and Rule of Law (CLRL) has said.
The legal advocacy group warned on Monday that the industrial action, now in its second week, was putting constitutional protections for personal liberty at risk.
The warning was contained in a statement dated Monday, 9 November and signed by Richard Nii Amarh, the CLRL’s Head of Legal.
The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG), together with the Senior Staff Association of the Judicial Service of Ghana (SSAJUG), has extended the shutdown to every court, including the Supreme Court. The dispute centres on the 2026 salary review.
“Our research desk has estimated that more than two thousand (2,000) people have been arrested by the Ghana Police Service since the declaration of this industrial strike. Consequently, these individuals have been denied the opportunity for a judicial pronouncement on their bail or remand status,” the statement said.
The CLRL added that remand prisoners due to appear before judges during the strike had also been left without hearings. It said this undermined the requirement in Ghana’s 1992 Constitution that detained suspects be brought before a court within 48 hours.
Calls for temporary bail courts
The organisation called on Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie to create temporary courts dedicated solely to bail applications in an effort to reduce the growing backlog.
Under the proposal, High Court judges would preside over the hearings, while judges from Circuit or District Courts would provide clerical support or record proceedings.
The CLRL also asked Inspector-General of Police Christian Tetteh Yohuno to instruct Ghana Police Service investigators to grant police enquiry bail in all minor offences. It said the measure would prevent police cells from becoming more overcrowded while the courts remained closed.
The group further appealed to President John Dramani Mahama and the ministers responsible for justice, finance, and employment and labour relations to intervene.
It also urged Parliament to supplement the Criminal Procedure Act, 1960 (Act 30) with a specific Bail Act.
Muslim organisations and lawyers call for settlement
In a separate statement issued on Monday, the Coalition of Muslim Organisations Ghana (COMOG) asked President Mahama to personally help broker an agreement. The group also called on JUSAG to consider suspending the strike while negotiations continued.
COMOG said the court closures had affected more than remand cases. Five working days without hearings had delayed decisions involving child custody and maintenance, as well as land, commercial and inheritance disputes. Families, it added, were facing additional transport costs as a result.
Private legal practitioner Listowel Kwadwo Fordjour told Adom News that the government should not treat the action as a routine labour dispute after JUSAG rejected an initial government offer.
JUSAG Deputy General Secretary Joyce Assan said judicial staff would return to work once their entitlements had been met.
