Jurors on strike over unpaid eight months allowance

The justice delivery system at the Accra High Court has been thrown into disarray as jurors launched an indefinite strike beginning Monday, June 2, 2025. Their protest stems from the government’s prolonged failure to pay their allowances, now in arrears for eight consecutive months.

This development threatens to disrupt criminal trials across multiple courts and further burden an already overstretched judicial system.

Jurors, who play an indispensable role in adjudicating serious criminal cases, say their efforts to resolve the matter have been consistently ignored. Despite prior engagement with the acting chief justice and officials of the judicial service, no firm commitment has been made to settle the unpaid stipends.

Joshua Alorgbey, speaking on behalf of the striking jurors in an interview with Citi News, described their situation as untenable.

He further recounted how attempts to resolve the issue through dialogue had begun as far back as October 2024 but yielded no results due to repeated postponements and a lack of urgency on the part of the authorities.

With the legal calendar drawing to a close, many jurors are now worried that their allowances may be indefinitely lost.

The strike is already affecting between 15 and 20 High Court criminal courts in the capital, with several felony cases now at risk of indefinite suspension. The ripple effects could deepen the case backlog, undermining timely access to justice for victims, defendants, and the public.

As of now, the Judicial Service has not issued an official statement on the strike. However, with courtrooms grinding to a halt, pressure is mounting on the Service and the Ministry of Finance to intervene urgently and restore the vital role of jurors in the country’s justice process.