The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has opposed the reintroduction of the public tribunal system in Ghana.

The TUC has therefore called on the government to halt the legislative process in Parliament intended to enact the Tribunals Bill.

"The TUC is manifestly opposed to the idea of resuscitating tribunals given our collective bitter experiences with tribunals. The Tribunals Bill in its current shape and form strengthens our conviction that tribunals must be abandoned.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has opposed the reintroduction of the public tribunal system in the country.

 
It has, therefore, called on the government to halt the current legislative process in Parliament intended to enact the Tribunals Bill.

“The TUC is manifestly opposed to the idea of resuscitating tribunals given our collective bitter experiences with tribunals.

The Tribunals Bill in its current shape and form strengthens our conviction that tribunals must be abandoned. 

Weaponising justice
“The Bill, when passed into law, can be a potent tool for weaponising justice delivery, and entrench the perception held by many that our justice system is up for grabs by politicians,” the Secretary-General of the TUC, Joshua Ansah, said yesterday at a news conference in Accra.

It followed a Steering Committee meeting of the union to deliberate on the ongoing parliamentary debate on the activation of the tribunals as part of the judicial system, as well as the constitutional review process initiated by the government in 2025.

“We call on the President and Parliament to heed the advice of the Constitution Review Committee.

Government must halt the current legislative process of enacting the Tribunals Bill, expunge Regional Tribunals from the Constitution and take meaningful steps to properly resource our judiciary,” Mr Ansah said.

“If law is properly seen as an embodiment of our collective historical experience, then the recent history of Public Tribunals must lead us away from any attempt to re-establish Regional and District Tribunals.

The Bill must be withdrawn from Parliament,” he emphasised.

Interest
The TUC, Mr Ansah said, had followed with keen interest the debate both in Parliament and in the media over the Tribunals Bill, and had equally examined the Bill and consulted widely with various stakeholders on the matter of regional and district tribunals.

In the TUC’s memorandum to the Constitution Review Committee, he said, “We noted in paragraph 14 as follows: ‘Regional tribunals (Articles 19 2(b) 142) are no longer relevant.

The TUC recommends that the entire article and other consequential references to Regional Tribunals must be expunged from the Constitution.

The TUC Secretary-General explained that in its final report to the government, the Constitution Review Committee recommended that “the Regional Tribunals be disestablished from the Constitution”.

He said in the considered view of the committee, “the High Court has been handling the caseload of the Regional Tribunals”. 

Recommendations
“In the face of these clear recommendations both by the TUC and the CRC, it is baffling to us that the government is attempting to activate the Tribunals,” Mr Ansah said.

In January 2025, the government commenced the constitutional reform process by establishing the Constitution Review Committee, chaired by Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh.

In December 2025, the committee submitted its final report to the government, and the TUC, in various meetings and submissions to the government, expressed full support for the government’s efforts to review the 1992 Constitution.

Mr Ansah said the union had expected the government to publish the full report of the Constitution Review Committee. 

Report
“What we currently have is the summary report of recommendations by the committee.

The full report has not yet been published.

We had also expected the government to publish its position on the recommendations before any action is taken on changing the Constitution. 

“These will form the basis for public debates and consultations leading eventually to amendments of the Constitution,” the TUC Secretary-General said, and added that “instead, we now have government taking portions of the recommendations to Parliament and seeking to amend those portions of the Constitution”.

The TUC, Mr Ansah said, found that approach problematic and unhelpful.

He said the approach detracted from all known principles of transparency and that it undermined the integrity of the entire Constitution review process.

“Surely, the approach does not inspire confidence,” he said.

Mr Ansah said the TUC was, therefore, demanding that the government publish the full report of the Constitution Review Committee.

Government, he said, must also publish its position on the report.

“Government must stop the ‘pick and choose’ approach to reviewing the Constitution,” he said.