Application of queuing theory to the judicial process in Ghana court system: case study of High Court in Kumasi
Loading...
Date
2006-09-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The application of Justice is very vital to the social, economic and political development of every country, and effective and efficient court system is one of the important ingredients of democracy. The objectives of the court among others are to ensure efficiency and a speedy delivery of justice and also change the public perception of the Judiciary and build confidence in the Judiciary. However, majority of them turn out to become dejected, disappointed or frustrated and have therefore lost confidence in the bodies adjudicating over their cases due to long delays, for it is said that justice delayed is justice denied. A major topic of Applied Mathematics that deals with this phenomenon of waiting, congestion, delay etc, is called Queuing theory, which can also be applied in the judicial process as cases work their way through the Court Service System. For the purpose of the queuing theory a model was designed based on Poisson Probability Distribution to determine the waiting time. Notwithstanding this waiting time there are a lot of factors that affect the smooth delivery of service to the public. The study investigated the factors that cause delay. Both primary and secondary data source were used. Sample survey, interviews and observations were used in primary data collection. The analysis of data revealed that there are a lot of factors that cause delay in the court and as such the application of the Queuing Theory in the Court’s Service System becomes somewhat impossible. It was observed that the application of Queuing Theory in the Court can only be possible if the factors that cause delay are solved. So therefore the findings of the study suggested and recommended that among others adequate infrastructure should be provided, competent Lawyers should be employed for the post of Judges and also increase salaries and better conditions of service to the staff.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration, 2006