Accra, Aug. 21, GNA – The Supreme Court has dismissed an interim application seeking to restrain the Chief Justice from enforcing warrants authorising selected High Court judges to conduct criminal trials during the legal vacation.
The court, presided over by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, sitting as a sole judge, that the applicant had failed to make a proper case to warrant the grant of the application.
The ruling clears the way for the selected High Courts to continue hearing criminal matters during the legal vacation.
Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, filed the interim application challenging the directives authorising selected judges to hear criminal cases during the legal vacation.
The court said it was unable to see how the directive on cases to be heard during the legal vacation was discriminatory.
“It is clear on the face of the warrant that the judges are supposed to conduct all cases pending in their courts,” the court said.
It said the applicant had not alleged that the Chief Justice’s warrants were influenced by the colour, gender or religion of the accused persons or their witnesses.
The court noted that judges who sat during the legal vacation took their leave when the legal year resumed.
With regard to lawyers, the court said they were “independent service providers who can plan their leave at any time within the year.”
“This ground of action fails to meet the ground of serious constitutional consideration to result in the issuance of an injunction,” it added.
The court observed that there was no existing precedent preventing the Chief Justice from issuing warrants for courts to continue hearing cases during the legal vacation.
It held that the warrants issued by the Chief Justice formed part of efforts to provide an opportunity for more criminal cases to be heard expeditiously.
The court further noted that the fact that some criminal cases were not being heard during the legal vacation did not mean that the administration of justice would not be advanced to some extent.
“I do not find it right to grant the application for injunction prayed for by the applicant,” the trial judge said.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Joyce Danso