(Commonwealth)_ More than 60 Ghanaian judges, prosecutors, and investigators in the period 7–10 October 2025 visited two Commonwealth symposiums with the aim of enhancing their capacity to handle cybercrime cases from the individual to corporate level. The United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office-funded symposiums brought together high-level Ghanaian security and justice stakeholders to enhance collaboration and build an organized response to the rising threat of cybercrime. The officials were accompanied by their equivalents from across West Africa, including Federal High Court judges of Nigeria, as the battle against cybercrimes was solidified at regional levels. The symposiums comprised virtual case study legal exercise sessions in which the participants argued mock legal exercises of real cybercrimes.
The exercises were designed to examine how well existing laws, international agreements, and legal help between countries work in real-life situations. The training sessions also addressed common courtroom issues such as the evaluation of online evidence, how to maintain it, and reemphasizing cross-border judicial cooperation. As the Ghanaian economy continues to thrive as one of West Africa’s most vibrant digital economies, these capacity-building exercises are more important than ever in safeguarding citizens and businesses within the country against increasing cyber threats. Senior government officials and leaders of the nation during the sessions stressed that effective policy frameworks, protection policies, and inter-agency coordination should exist.
They also emphasized that responsive law must keep up with the advancement of technology and that the capacity of the justice system to receive, store, and present electronic evidence is at the heart of successful prosecution. All participants believed that it was never possible to address cybercrime through the efforts of a single institution and emphasized the requirement for joint action through law enforcement, the judiciary, and private sector collaborators. Plans for establishing special courts for handling designated cybercrime cases were also being considered, i.e., how such cases would be adjudicated by specially trained judges.
Judges were exposed firsthand during training to the assessment of electronic evidence, detection of tampering, and authentication of digital information submitted as evidence to a court of law. With such improved knowledge, the Ghanaian judicial system should be in a position to deal with better-formulated cybercrime cases, administering justice to victims while giving deterrent punishment for future crimes. The symposium also benefited prosecutors involved in cybercrime cases. They all also said that the training improved their awareness in the very critical field of electronic evidence as well as a safe chain of custody in investigations. The successful prosecution of cybercrooks and court cases requires these skills.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Hon. Shirley Botchwey praised Ghana for further developing its judiciary institution in aspects of capacity development. She added that earlier training workshops organized by the Commonwealth had already realized 50 percent attitudinal improvement in how Ghanaian judicial officials handled electronic evidence. The symposium bridged these achievements to High Court judges whose leadership and expertise will have a decisive influence in maintaining justice systems that stay robust and responsive to digital expansion.
Ghanaian courts asserted themselves once again as the final defense against cybercrime. Supreme Court Judge Tanko Amadu, Director of the Judicial Training Institute, advocated for continuous professional training to adapt to rapidly changing technology. The Institute vowed to seek continuous judicial officer training and education in a curriculum to develop capacity to protect citizens in the new ICT era.
The British High Commission Representative in Accra, Hooman Nouruzi, testified that the threat of cybercrime is expanding very fast in Africa, as indicated by statistics from INTERPOL showing an increased rate of cyberattacks on the continent. He stressed the need for knowledge transfer, effective legal structures, and ongoing global collaboration to be able to counter such attacks.
The response to the initiative from the public was also huge, with most of the citizens accepting the necessity to allow security and justice institutions to fight cybercrime. The symposiums were a mark of Ghana’s continuous effort towards creating superior legal and justice systems, superior online security, and reconciling the advantages of connectivity with strong defenses for everyone.
