Judicial Service issue safety alert as Judges, staff told to adjourn cases during flood crisis

Ghana’s judicial establishment has issued guidance to members of the bench and court personnel, urging them to prioritise personal safety and operational prudence as torrential precipitation and resulting inundation continue to ravage the capital.

A memorandum circulated on Monday, June 29, 2026, by Deputy Judicial Secretary Justice Dr. Cyracus B. Bapuuroh, conveyed instructions emanating from the Chief Justice’s office in response to the meteorological emergency unfolding across Accra’s landscape.

The directive addresses multiple constituencies within the judicial system.

Those still sheltered at home were counselled against venturing toward courthouses until water has receded and conditions favour safe passage.

All judicial officers and support staff are expected to exercise maximum caution should they determine that travel is unavoidable.

Judges and magistrates have been given explicit authority to postpone proceedings in cases where floods have prevented the appearance of litigants, witnesses, counsel or other participants whose presence is integral to fair adjudication.

The judiciary recognises that weather-induced obstacles to access transcend individual preference and warrant systemic accommodation.

The Judicial Service framed the advisory within a hierarchy of values, positioning the wellbeing of magistrates, judges, staff and everyone who enters courthouses as the paramount concern overriding procedural expediency.

“The safety, health and welfare of all Judges, Staff and Court Users remain of paramount importance to the Judicial Service,” the memorandum stated.

All personnel have been urged to marshal whatever precautions are available to shield themselves and those in their care from exposure to hazard during the ongoing weather crisis.

The guidance arrives as Monday’s deluge has wreaked havoc across Accra’s neighbourhoods and commercial sectors, with emergency responders continuing their push into flooded precincts to extract residents in peril.

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Yaw Opoku Amoako

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