All courts across the country will resume normal sittings on today, Tuesday, November 10, as the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) and the Senior Staff Association of the Judicial Service of Ghana (SSAJUG) have suspended their industrial action.

This development was contained in a press release dated November 9 from the unions. The statement added that the resumption comes after holding discussions with the management of the Judicial Service.

“Following productive discussions between the leadership of the Associations and the Management of the Judicial Service, a mutual understanding has been reached. Consequently, all staff are expected to resume their duties with immediate effect,” the statement said.

The Judicial Service further apologised for the disruption to its operations, conveying its regrets to the President, the Executive, Parliament, the legal profession and the general public, particularly those who depend on the courts for services.

“We offer our most sincere apologies to His Excellency the President and the Executive arm of Government, the Honourable Speaker and Members of Parliament, the legal profession, and, most importantly, the general public and all court users, for the undue inconvenience experienced during this period,” the statement said.

For some time now, JUSAG has been pressuring the government to revise its conditions of service to ensure they are in line with the laws.As part of their demands, President John Dramani Mahama must ensure that the revised conditions of service submitted by the Judicial Council must be reflected in full in the final approval.

Addressing the media on Monday, November 9, JUSAG General Secretary Abdulai Yakubu said the President's approval of the revised conditions of service falls short of the provisions in Constitutional Instrument 141 (CI 141), and that this is the source of the disagreement.

He added, “Where the law provides that ABC should be given to Judicial staff, in our humble opinion, it is not for the President to pick and choose out of that and so what was approved did not conform with the provisions of CI 141, as was recommended by the Judicial Council and to that extent, we indicated that the President’s approval should be revised to meet what has been given to staff by law.

“We have had an indication that this Monday evening, a communication will come and a meeting will be held and there is hope that our demands will be met so we could announce to the public that the strike has come to an end.”

On Monday, November 9, JUSAG told the government it will call off its ongoing strike only if its concerns are addressed.