Economic Impact of Judicial Digitalisation in Ghana: Institutional Alignment and Economic Governance

Abstract

Judicial digitalisation has become a central component of contemporary governance reform. Although existing scholarship highlights the administrative and procedural benefits of electronic courts, limited attention has been given to how institutional conditions shape the economic returns of such reforms in lower-middle-income contexts. This study examines how judicial digitalisation in Ghana influences administrative efficiency and transaction costs and how institutional alignment mediates these effects. A qualitative multiple-case study design was employed using document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions with judicial administrators, legal practitioners, business representatives, and court users. Findings indicate that electronic filing systems, digital scheduling, and virtual hearings reduce clerical workload, improve procedural predictability, and lower selected travel and opportunity costs. However, these gains are uneven and depend on infrastructural adequacy, regulatory coherence, execution capacity, cybersecurity safeguards, and digital literacy. Comparative insights from Rwanda and South Africa further show that sustained economic returns from digital justice reforms require coordinated governance and long-term institutional commitment. The study refines institutional implementation and transaction-cost perspectives by demonstrating that digitalisation does not automatically generate economic benefits; rather, institutional alignment determines whether potential efficiency gains are realised and sustained. These findings contribute to digital governance scholarship and inform policy debates on sustainable judicial reform in developing economies.