Chinese-speaking judges needed to tackle galamsey – Justice Mensah

Supreme Court Judge nominee, Justice Philip Bright Mensah, has recommended that judges stationed in illegal mining zones undergo Chinese language training to address persistent challenges in prosecuting foreign nationals involved in galamsey.

Speaking during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, Justice Mensah said language barriers remain a key obstacle to successful prosecutions, particularly when Chinese nationals are involved.

“When they are arrested, especially these Chinese people and sent to the court, the difficulty is that they don’t speak English. Even if they understand English, they refuse to speak English,” he noted. “And because the police and enforcement agencies also are unable to speak their language, it becomes more difficult to get them prosecuted.”

He said the lack of effective interpretation in court proceedings often hampers justice delivery and allows offenders to walk free.

“The interpreters themselves, sometimes they are also a problem,” he added. “So if the Judge himself understands the language, it will be better served for him to understand what he is doing for us to be able to curb the menace of galamsey.”

To address the challenge, Justice Mensah proposed that either the Judicial Training Institute (JTI) be resourced to provide Chinese language instruction locally or that judges be sent to China for language studies.

“The Judges must either be taken to China for further studies in Chinese language, or the JTI must be resourced to bring experts to come and train our Judges,” he said. “Because if the person has committed an offence and you can’t prosecute him, then it is as well saying that ‘oh let me leave him to go away.’”