By The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice has refuted claims that the Chief Justice violated Article 157(3) of the 1992 Constitution by altering the panel assigned to handle the appeal of Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, former Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, May 14, the AG’s office denounced these reports as deliberate fabrications aimed at undermining public trust in the judiciary.
Citing a publication in the Herald newspaper and remarks by legal practitioner Kweku Asare, the AG stated that the Chief Justice is within her authority to constitute a panel for any case in any court.
The Attorney General clarified that the Chief Justice’s decisions during the May 8 appeal hearing of Opuni were legitimate and in accordance with the law.
“For the purpose of educating the public, the A-G states that no party to proceedings in court has a right to insist on a particular court or panel of a court to hear his or her case. In accordance with the Constitution and the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), the Chief Justice determines the composition of every court for the hearing of any matter.
“The Chief Justice is a member of every court in the country and, has the power to request in writing a Justice of any of the Superior Courts of Judicature to sit on either the Court of Appeal or the High Court at any time. Further, consistent with article 128(3) of the Constitution, the Chief Justice presides at sittings of the Supreme Court, and in his absence, the most senior of the Justices of the Supreme Court, as constituted, shall preside.”
The statement further expressed serious concern over the efforts made by certain media outlets associated with Dr. Opuni to distort proceedings and facts related to the case.
“The A-G notes the persistent attempts by some media houses aligned to Dr Opuni to distort the effect of court proceedings relating to the prosecution of the former Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board. These publications, many a time, are a gross misrepresentation of the evidence led at the trial, intended to ridicule the case of the prosecution and create false impressions about the soundness of the defence put up by Dr Opuni at his trial.
“The A-G observes that most of the publications on the “Opuni case”, orchestrated by the accused persons themselves, transgress the limits of permissible speech as they are calculated at perverting the course of justice and/or prejudicing the fair hearing of that case. Nonetheless, the Republic remains focused against all the accused persons in the case mentioned above and will not be overawed in that process.”
