By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, July 10, GNA – An Accra High Court will on July 11, 2023, deliver a ruling on an application for stay of proceedings filed by lawyers for Mr James Gyakye Quayson, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North.
The motion for stay of proceedings was to allow for the Court of Appeal to hear its appeal filed to review a decision by the High Court to hear the trial on a day-to-day basis.
Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, the lead Counsel, told the Court that any decision not to stay the proceedings would prejudge the appeal filed at the Court of Appeal.
He said the notice of appeal sets out the five errors of the law committed in the Court’s ruling.
He said,” at this stage, we are not arguing the appeal, but it is apt to highlight the basis on which they want to show that the Court had erred as the foundation for their application for a stay of proceedings pending the hearing of the appeal.”
The Counsel said their first ground of appeal indicated that the Court erred in law, where it failed to appreciate that the exercise of its discretion violated the 1992 constitution.
He said the ruling delivered by the Court did not have regard for those clear Constitutional principles of discretionary power.
Mr Tsikata said the ruling focused entirely on the discretionary power of the Court to grant adjournments and made references to the criminal procedure code but in their respective view, it did not recognise the limits that the Constitution imposed on the exercises of such a power.
He said they had put before the Court extremely prejudicial remarks by the Attorney-General both in Court and out of Court.
He said it was their submission that there were exceptional circumstances, which would necessitate a stay of proceedings, pending the appeal they had filed
Mr Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, the Deputy Attorney-General, being led by Godfred Dame, however, opposed the application.
He said the application was grossly incompetent and ought to be dismissed.
He said the application had irrelevant issues because they were not made in respect of the criminal case before the Court.
Mr Tuah-Yeboah said it was completely unjust and an attempt to deliberately distort facts.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament on Thursday boycotted sitting to accompany and solidarize with Mr Gyakye Quayson and Dr Ato Forson, who is also facing criminal charges.
Initially, the Supreme Court nullified Quayson’s election as the Member of Parliament for Assin North over holding a Canadian citizenship alongside being a Ghanaian at the time he filed his nomination to contest the election in 2020.
Upon a by-election conducted by the Electoral Commission, the people of Assin North Constituency re-elected him to represent them in Parliament.
He now faces charges of perjury and deceiving a public officer at the High Court.
GNA