Analyst raises concerns over passage of Public Tribunal Bill 2026
- Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers said the Public Tribunal Bill 2026 was passed too quickly.
- He supported the revival of a tribunal framework but called for broader consultation.
- He raised concerns about overlapping tribunal and court jurisdiction, as well as the proposed oversight committee.
Legal and political analyst Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers has raised concerns about the manner in which the Public Tribunal Bill 2026 was passed, arguing that wider consultation could have strengthened the legislation and reduced the prospect of future legal disputes.
Speaking on TV3’s Big Issues on Friday, July 17, Mr Brako-Powers said the revival of a tribunal framework could have important benefits for Ghana’s justice administration. However, he maintained that the speed of the legislative process had affected the quality of the final law.
He said tribunals can offer a more flexible route for resolving matters than conventional courts, which he described as more formal and often slower. In his view, those potential advantages made it especially important for the government to engage more extensively with the public and legal stakeholders before the bill was passed.
Mr Brako-Powers said some significant voices were not included in the consultation process and argued that this had allowed controversial provisions to remain in the final text. He expressed regret that the opportunity to produce a more refined law had, in his assessment, been compromised by haste.
Jurisdiction and oversight concerns
A central concern raised by the analyst was the jurisdiction assigned to the proposed tribunal bodies. He pointed to provisions he said give Regional Tribunals jurisdiction alongside the High Court, while District Tribunals would exercise jurisdiction alongside the Circuit Court.
Mr Brako-Powers argued that such overlap could encourage forum shopping, where parties seek to have cases heard in the forum they believe may be more favourable to them. He said this could also result in inconsistent decisions and uncertainty in the handling of public disputes.
He also questioned the proposed Tribunal Oversight Committee, warning that its role could overlap with that of the Judicial Council. According to him, the two institutions could face disagreements over authority and relevance if their respective responsibilities are not clearly defined.
While welcoming the initiative to revitalise the tribunal system, Mr Brako-Powers said the concerns around consultation, jurisdiction and institutional oversight should have been resolved more comprehensively before the bill was enacted.
