CRI

MINALPROCEDURE

I
NTRODUCTI
ONTOCRI
MINALPROCEDURE

Whati
sCr
imi
nal
Procedur
e?

Criminalprocedur eistheadjudicat
ion processoft hecr iminallaw.Al so,cri
minal
proceduremaybeexpl ai
nedastheprocessbywhi chal
lcriminalmattersaredealtwi
th.
Itnormallystar
tswi t
hanar r
est
,beingchargedwi t
hanof fence,beingprosecutedandif
convictedbeingsentt opri
sonorwhennotconv i
ct edt
heacqui t
taloftheaccused.The
i
nstit
utionsinvolvedarethePoli
ce,theCour ts,t
heAt t
orney-General
’sDepartmentand
thePr i
sonsService.
Rat
ional
orBasi
sfort
heLawofCr
imi
nal
Procedur
e
Toensur
elawandor
deri
nthesoci
ety
.Toar
rest
,tr
yandconv
ictwr
ongdoer
s.
Sour
cesofCr
imi
nal
Procedur
e
1.TheConst
it
uti
onofGh.1992
2.Cr
imi
nal
andOt
herOf
fences(
Procedur
e)Act
,1960,
Act30
3.Cr
imi
nal
Off
encesAct
,1960,
Act29
4.TheEv
idenceAct
,1975,
Act323,
sees.120:
thet
aki
ngofconf
essi
onst
atement
5.TheCour
tsAct
,1993,
Act459asamendedbyAct674
6.Juv
eni
l
eJust
iceAct
,2003,
Act653
7.TheHi
ghCour
t(Ci
vi
lPr
ocedur
e)Rul
es,
2004,
CI47
8.TheCommonLaw

9.Pr
act
icesandPr
ocedur
e

Cr
imi
nal
Procedur
eandPr
otect
ionofI
ndi
vi
dual
Right
s

i
. Const
it
uti
onal
Right
s

The1992Const i
tut i
onist hesupr emelawoft hel andandallotherlawsaresubjectt o
i
tsprov i
sions.Chapt er5oft he1992Const itut
iondeal swit
hf undamentalhumanr i
ght s
andfreedomsofper sonsandal larmsofgov ’
t ,organsofgov ’
t,MDAsandal lpersons
aremandat edtor especttheser ightsandfreedoms.Gener all
yev er
ypersoninGhanai s
enti
tl
edt ot heenj oymentoft heser i
ght
swhet herornotsuchaper sonisaci tizen.
Chapter5i sanent r
enchedpr ovisionsocannoteasi l
ybeamended.Ar t
icl
e33(1)&( 2)
gi
vest heHCpowert oenforcetheser i
ghts.

Ar
ti
clest
oConsi
derUnderCr
imi
nal
Procedur
e

The1992Const
it
uti
oncont
ainsenor
mouspr
ovi
si
onsf
ort
hepr
otect
ionoft
heaccused

1|
Page
per
soni
nthepr
e-t
ri
alandt
ri
alst
agesoft
hecr
imi
nal
process.

Ar
ti
cle13

General
l
yal
lpersonshaveari
ghtt
oli
feandnothingmustbedonet
odepr
iveaper
son
ofthi
sri
ght
.Theexcept
ionst
othi
srul
earesetoutinAr
ti
cle13(
1)&(
2).

Ar
ti
cle14

I
t’
sonthepr
otect
ionoft
her
ightt
oper
sonal
li
ber
ty.Except
ionst
othi
sri
ghtar
einAr
ti
cle
14(
1).

Arti
cle14(2)guarant
eesther i
ghtofaper sonarr
ested,restr
ictedordet
ainedt
oknow
thereasonsforhisarr
estandalsoofhisrightt
oal awyerofhi schoi
ceandsamemust
becommuni catedtothepersoninalanguages/heunderstands.

nRepubl
I i
cv.Akosah[
1975]2GLR406t
heappl
i
cantandanot
herwer
echar
gedwi
th
attempt edabor t
ion.Prosecut i
oncalledanumberofwi tnessesbutevidenceledwasnot
strong.Thef i
nalwi tness,t hepol i
cei nvest
igat
or,tendedi nevidenceast at
ementthe
applicanthadgi venwhi chi ncri
minatedt heappli
cantandt heconvict
ionwasbasedon
thatst atement.Onappeal ,thelawyerar guedthathisclienthadnotbeenadvi sedt
hat
hehadar ighttoal awyerofhi schoi ceunderthe1969const i
tuti
on.Tayl
orJ.heldt
hat
from thef acts,theappl icantwasn’ tinformedont her i
ghtt olawyerandsoconvict
ion
basedont hatstatementwaswr ongsohewasacqui t
ted.

Art
icl
e14(3)i
sthe48-hourrul
ei.
e.aper
sonar
rest
edshal
lnotbekeptf
ormor
ethan48
hourswi
thoutbr
ingi
nghim bef
oreacour
t.

Ar
ti
cle19–Fai
rTr
ial

Arti
cle19(1)pr
ovi
desthatev
eryaccusedper
soni
sent
it
ledt
oaf
airhear
ingwi
thi
na
reasonabl
etime–Gormanv.Republ
i
c.

Arti
cle19(
2)prescr
ibesj
uryt
ri
alf
orof
fencespuni
shabl
ebydeathorimpr
isonmentfor
l
ife.Theverdi
ctoughttobeunani
mousinthisty
peoft r
ialwher
ethepunishmentis
death.

Ar
ticl
e19(3)t
het
ri
alofaper
sonchar
gedwi
thacr
imi
nalof
fenceshal
ltakepl
acei
nhi
s
pr
esence.

Art
icl
e19(5)provi
dest hatapersonshal
lnotbechar
gedwit
horheldtobeguil
tyofa
cri
minaloff
encefoundedonanactoromi ssi
ont
hatdi
dnotconst
it
uteanof
fenceatt
he
ti
met heactoromissi
ont ookpl
ace.

2|
Page
Art
icl
e19(7)isonthepri
nci eofaut
pl ref
oisconvi
ctandautr
efoi
sacquit–nobodyshal
l
betri
edforthesamecriminaloffencewhichs/hehasbeentri
edbyacompet entcour
t
andbeenconv i
ctedoracquitt
edorf oranyothercri
minaloff
enceforwhichhecould
havebeenconvi
ctedatt
het ri
al.

Articl
e19(11)noper sonist obeconv ict
edofacr imi naloff
enceunl esst
heof fencei s
definedandapenal t
ypr escri
bedf oritinawr i
tt
enl aw –Br iti
shAirwaysv.A- G[ 1997-
1998]GLR55t hecompanyandi t
smangerwer earraignedonachar geofrefusaltopay
rentinconvert
ibl
ecur r
ency.Inthecour seofthetri
al,thePNDCL150wasr epealedand
theaccusedper sonsappl iedtot heSC ongr oundst hatthere’
snopenal t
yf ort he
offence.Hel
dthattherewoul dbenol awt opuni
shthem si nceithadbeenrepeal ed.

Ar
ti
cle107(
b)

Ar
ticl
e107(b)doesnotal
low Par
liamentt
opasslegi
slat
ionwhi
chhasar
etr
ospect
ive
ef
fectli
mit
ingt
heright
sandli
bert
iesofanyper
son.

i
i
. Nat
ural
Just
ice

(
a)Audi
alt
eram par
tem –r
ightt
obehear
d

(
b)Nemojudexi
ncausasua–r
ightt
oaf
airt
ri
al,r
uleagai
nstbi
as,oneshal
lnotbea
j
udgei
nhi
sowncause

i
i
i. HumanRi
ght
sSt
andar
ds

Ri
ghtt
obet
reat
edwi
thdi
gni
tyandr
espectf
orf
undament
alhumanr
ight
sandf
reedoms.

3|
Page
 ROLEOFTHEPOLI
CEI
NCRI
MINALPROCEDURE

Anot herinsti
tuti
onofgov ernmentconcernedwi ththeadmi nistrat
ionofcriminaljusti
ce
i
st hepol ice.Indeed,thati
st hefir
stinsti
tuti
onwhi chtheor di
naryciti
zenfirstcomes
i
ntocont actwhenhehassuf f
eredsomei njuryorl ossthr oughcr i
me. Hemakesa
reporttot hepolice,anditi
sthedut yofthepol i
cet oinv
estigatethatreport
.ThePol i
ce
ServiceAct ,1970,Act350,whi chregulat
est heaf fair
softhepol i
ce,provi
desi ns.1(1)
that:‘i
tshallbet hedutyofthepol i
ceservi
cet opr eventanddet ectcrime,toappr ehend
offenders,andt omai nt
ainpubli
corderandsaf etyofpersonsandpr opert
y.

Toperformt hesefunctions,t heyhav ewidepower sofar r

estwit
horwi t
houtawar r
ant.
Theyalsohav ethepowert ouser easonablemeanst omai nt
ainpeaceandt hi
smay
i
ncludeusingteargas, wat ercannonst ocontrolri
ots.UnderAct30,thepoli
cemayev en
ki
lltostopthecommi ssionofacr ime.Ev er
yact i
onbyt hepoli
ceint hecourseoftheir
dutymusthowev erbel awf ul.InHemansv .Cofie[1996-
97]SCGLR595t heSCheldt hat
“t
hepolicewasempower edbyt helawtopr otectthelif
eandpr opertyofthecit
izenry
andnott oactasdebtcol lector
s.Thepolicehadnol awfulauthori
tytoar r
estawi fe
whenl ooki
ngf orherhusbandorasonwhenl ooki
ngf orthefatherorvicever sa,as
happened int he i
nstantcase.Si nce such pr
acti
ce constit
uted negation oft he
fundamentalr
ightsoftheindivi
dual
sinvol
vedunderthelawandt heConstituti
on,ithad
toberoundlycondemned”.

Ar
restGener
all
y

Whenaper sonisarr
ested,hemustbet akentothepoli
cestati
onimmediat
ely–s.9.
Whil
eincustody
,thesuspectmustbegivenreasonabl
efaci
li
ti
estoobtai
nlegaladvi
ce.
Thepersonmustbereleasedwi
thin48hoursifhe’
snotbroughtbef
oreacourt.The48-
hourr
uledoesnotexcl
udeanyoffence.

WhatConst
it
utesAr
rest
?

PerAct30, s.3thepoliceof f
iceroranyper sonmakingthearrestshallactual
lytouchor
confi
net hebodyoft heper sont obear r
ested.Thepersonbei ngarrestedcanhowev er
submittothearrestbywor doract i
on.Acasei npoi sAsant
nti ev.TheRepubl ic,upona
compl ai
ntofassaultagainsttheappel l
ant,aconstabl
edetai
ledtoef fecthisarrest
.The
constablewentt ohispr emisesandmer elyi
nvit
edhimt ot hepolicest ati
onwi thout
tel
l
inghimt hereasonf orthei nvi
tati
on.Upont heappell
ant
’srefusaltogot ot hepolice

4|
Page
stati
on,theconst ableassaultedhi m andsei zedhi si
gnitionkey .Theappel l
anti nturn
pushedt heconst abledown,ki ckedhi m anddamagedhi st r
ouser s.Ont hesef acts,he
wasconv i
ct edofassaul tanddamaget opr operty.Heappeal edagai nstconvicti
on.The
questionf orthecour twaswhet herornott hear restwasunl awf ul.Itwashel dt hatthe
constablef ail
edt oplacet heappellantunderar r
estbynotconf ormi ngt otheprov i
sions
ofthecr i
mi nalcoder el
ati
ngtoar rest.Thei nvit
ati
ont otheappel lantsdi dnotconst it
ute
anar restandt hereforet heresistancebyt heappel l
anti nt hoseci r
cumst anceswas
l
awf ulandnotanassaul t. Wher eaper sont obear restedt akesr efugeinahouseor
anypl acet hepol iceof fi
cerorper sonact i
ngundert hewar rantshal lbeal lowedf ree
entrytot hepl aceandshal lbegi venal lreasonablefacilit
iest osear chfort heper son
whoi st obear rested–Act30,s.4.Theper soni nchargeoft hehousehasadut yto
assistthepol iceof fi
cer.Anypoliceof f
icerorper sonaut hor i
sedt omakeanar restmay
breakoutofanypl aceorhouset ol iber
atehi mself–Act 30, s.5.

Apersonarrest
edshal
lnotbesubjectedtomorerestr
aintthanisnecessarytoprev
ent
hi
sescape–s.6.Whent hepersonisarr
estedandtakentot hepol
i
cest at
ion,hemust
besearchedandal
lart
icl
esbroughtbyhim mustbekeptinsafecust
ody–s.8.

Poweroft
hepol
i
cet
oar
restwi
thoutwar
rant

UnderAct30,s.10,thepol
i
cemayar restwi
thorwit
houtawarrantanyper sonwho
commitsanoff
ence.Thepol
icemayar
restwit
houtawarr
anti
ntheffi
nstances:

a.Whent
heof
fencei
scommi
tt
edi
nthepr
esenceoft
hepol
i
ceof
fi
cer
;

b.Whenpol
i
ceof
fi
ceri
sobst
ruct
edi
nexecut
ionofhi
sdut
y;

c.Whenaper
sonat
tempt
stoescapef
rom l
awf
ulcust
odyorescapesf
rom cust
ody
;

d.Possessi
onofani
mpl
ementadapt
edori
ntendedf
oruset
ounl
awf
ull
yent
era
bui
ldi
ng;

e.Whenapersoni
sinpossessi
onofat
hingwhi
chmayr
easonabl
ybesuspect
edt
o
best
olenpr
oper
ty;

f
. Aper
sonwhoi
sadeser
terf
rom t
heAr
medFor
ces

Poweroft
hepol
i
cet
oar
restwi
thwar
rant

Pers.7ofAct30,exceptwhenthepersonarr
est
edi
si ntheactualcourseofthe
commissi
onofacr
iminalof
fenceori
spursuedi
mmedi
atel
yafterescapefr
om lawful

5|
Page
custody,apoli
ceof f
iceroraper sonmaki ngthearrestshalli
nformt hepersonarr
ested
ofthecauseoft hear rest,and,ifthepoli
ceoff
icerorot herpersonisactingunderthe
authori
tyofawar r
antshal lnoti
fythepersont
obear r
estedofthecont entofthewarr
ant
and,ifsorequi
red,shallshowt hewar r
anttot
heper sontobear rest
ed.

PowerofSear
ch

Li
ket hepowerofar r
est,t
hepowerofsear chmayal sobeexercisedwi thorwi thouta
warrant
.Asearchisseenast heinf
ri
ngementoft hepri
vacyofaper son,hishomeorhi s
propert
yandtheref
oremustbeunder t
akeninstri
ctcompliancewiththelaw.Thesear ch
i
snecessar yi
nt heinvesti
gati
onofcr i
meandi tall
owst hepolicet or et
ri
evest ol
en
propert
y,orbr
ingoutrelevanti
nfor
mation/
evidencenecessaryforthepr osecut
ionofa
case.

Thepoweroft
hepol
i
cet
osear
chwi
thawar
rant

Whenasear chi sconduct edunderawar r

antt her
eist hesameel ementofj udi
ci al
controlast hereisoveranar restwi
thawar r
ant.Asear chwar rantisanor derinwr i
ting
i
ssuedbyaJudgeorMagi str
ateint
henameoft heRepubl i
c,direct
edt oapol i
ceof f
icer
oranyot herper soncommandi nghi
mtosear chaspecifiedhouse, premisesorplacef or
somepr oper t
yr easonablysuspectedto beconnect edwi t
ht hecommi ssi
onofan
offenceforwhi cht heoffendermaybear restedwi t
houtawar rant.Thepr opert
ywhen
found,isbroughtbef oreaJudge/ Magi
str
atet obedealtwithinaccor dancewi ththelaw
–Act30, s.88.

Asear chwar rantwillbeissuedasar esul

tofinformationobtainedonoat h.Inpractice,
thisisnormal l
ydonebyaf f
idavi
tev idence.Wher etheMagistrate/Judgeissat i
sfi
edby
evidenceonoat hthatt hereisr easonablegr oundf orbeli
evingt hattherei sinany
buildi
ng,v essel,carri
age,box,r ecept acl
eorpl ace,anythi
ngi nrespectofwhi chan
offencehasbeen commi t
ted ori ssuspect ed to havebeen commi t
ted forwhi ch
accordingt oanyl awtheof fendermaybear restedwithoutawar r
ant,theMagi st
rateor
Judgemayi ssueawar r
antaut horisinganypol i
cemant osear cht hatbuil
ding,vessel,
etc.fortheitem andbr i
ngsamebef or etheJudget obedealtwi t
haccor di
ngtol aw.

Ifthemagistr
atehasreasont
obelievethatt
herei
sinthisbuil
ding,vessel
,carr
iage,
box
etc.anyt
hingthatcanbeusedasev i
dencethatanoff
encehasbeencommi tt
ed,hecan
authori
seapoliceoff
icert
ogoint
ot hatpl
aceandproducethatevidence.

Ift
heJudge/
Magist
rat
ehasr
easonstobeli
evethatt
her
eisi
nanybui
l
dinganyi
tem that
canbeusedtocommitanof
fenceorthati
sint
endedtobeusedt
ocommitanoffence,

6|
Page
hecanaut
hor
iseapol
i
ceof
fi
cert
oret
ri
evet
hei
tem andbr
ingi
tbef
oret
hecour
t.

Inallt
hesecases,
thesear
chwarrantmustcomplywi tht
heprocedur
esetoutins.88.A
searchwarrantmaybeexecutedonanydayi ncludingSundaysbetween6.30am and
6.30pm –s.89.Thecourthoweverhasthediscr
etiontoauthori
setheexecuti
onofa
searchwarr
antatanyhour.

Sect
ion95pr ovi
desthats.88ands.93shal
lnotapplytot
hecaseofapostalmatt
erin
tr
ansitbypost,
exceptwherethepost
almatterhasbeenori
ssuspect
edofhavingbeen
di
shonestl
yappropri
atedduri
ngthetr
ansi
t.

Anypersonresidi
nginapl aceori
nchar geofabuildi
ngl
i
abl
etobesear
chedmustall
ow
thepoli
ceoffi
cerexecutingthesearchwar r
antf
reeent
ryi
ntot
heplaceandaffor
dall
thenecessar
yassi st
ancet othesearch.Thepolicemaybr
eakanydoororwindow t
o
execut
easear chifentr
ycannotbeobt ained.

Asearchwarr
antremai
nsinforceunti
lexecut
edorcancel
l
edbyt
hecour
twhi
chi
ssued
i
t.Asearchwarr
antmustbeexecutedwit
hinGhana.

Thej
udgegiv
esor der
sastohowtodi
sposeofthegoods.I
ftheyar
egoodst
hatcannot
bepr
eser
ved,thecourtwi
l
lmakeanor
dersothatt
hegoodsdonotgotowaste.

Poweroft
hepol
i
cet
osear
chwi
thoutwar
r s.93)
ant(

Thepol
i
cehav
epower
stosear
chwi
thoutawar
ranti
ftheybel
i
evet
hat
:

1.Art
icl
esoritemsi
ll
egall
yobtai
nedar
einthepr
ocessofbei
ngcar
ri
edf
rom onepl
ace
toanotherort
her
eisthesuspi
ciont
hatt
heseart
icl
esmaybecar
ri
edf
rom onepl
ace
toanother.

2.Therei
sr easonabl
esuspici
onthatt
heit
em mi ghtbeusedtocommitacri
minal
off
enceorhasbeenusedt ocommitacr
iminaloff
enceandi
saboutt
obeconvey
ed
toanot
herplaceorconceal
ed.

Thepol i
ceinsear
chi
ngwi thoutawarrantoughttocomplystri
ctl
ywi
ththelaw.The
personwhoi saut
hori
sedt osearchwithoutawar r
antoughttobeapolicemannot
belowtherankofAssi
stantSuper
int
endentofPoli
ce( ASP)
,ifi
t’
sanof
fi
cerbelowt
hat
rank,heoughtt
obeauthori
sedbyasenioroff
iceri
nwritng–s.94.
i

Apri
vateper
soncannotbeaut
hor
isedt
osear
chwi
thoutawar
rant–Owusuv
.Ponko
[
1976]1GLR241.

7|
Page
I
nal lsearches,theoffi
cermaki
ngt hesear
chmustt akecar etoactinthepresenceof
theper sonaffectedorsomeot herpersonwhowoul dst andintheaffectedperson’
s
place.Thus,therelev
antpol
iceStandi
ngOrdersay
,‘exceptinunusualci
rcumstancesno
searchshallt
akeplacei
ntheabsenceoftheowneroroccupi
eroft
hepremisesnamed
i
nt hewarrantandthenonlyi
foneofhisfamil
yorapersonli
vi
nginthesamer oom (
or
house)ispresentandwit
nessest
hesearch.Theof
fi
cershoul
dtakeaninvent
oryofthe
thi
ngsseized’
.

I
nvest
igat
ionofcr
imes

I
nvest
igat
ionsar
econductedi
ntocr
imesinordertogatherev
idenceinanat t
emptt
o
r
esolv
ecrimes.I
tisal
sodonet
oensuret
hatpotent
ial
wit
nessesareident
if
ied.

Caut
ionedst
atement
s

Thi
stypeofst
atementi
srequi
redt
obegi
venuponanaccusedbei
ngchar
gedwi
than
off
ence.

Char
gedst
atement
s

Funct
ionsofPol
i
ceOf
fi
cer
s

1.Ar
restofcr
imi
nal
sandsuspect
edcr
imi
nal
s

2.I
nvest
igat
ionofcr
imes

3.Test
if
yingi
ncour
t

4.Hel
pthepr
osecut
ioni
npr
ocur
ingwi
tnesses

5.Theyal
sopr
osecut
eof
fences

6.Ser
veasal
i
aisonbet
weent
hepr
osecut
ionandwi
tnesses

ROLEOFTHEATTORNEY-
GENERALI
NCRI
MINALPROCEDURE

8|
Page
Whet
herundertheconst
it
uti
onsoftheci
vi
li
anr egi
mesorundert
hepr ocl
amati
onsof
t
hemili
tar
yregi
mes,theA-
Ghasalwayshadresponsi
bil
i
tyf
ort
heprosecuti
onofcr
imes
i
nGh.

I
nGh, theOff
iceoftheA-Gwasi nheri
tedf
rom t
heBrit
ishColoni
alAdmi
nist
rat
ion.TheA
-GintheGoldCoastcolonialer
awasanunel ectedex-of
fi
ciomemberoftheExecutiv
e
Council–theCabinetoftheGov er
nor.Hewasthelegaldraf
tsmanaswellasthelegal
advi
sertotheGovernor.

Ar
ti
cle88oft
he92Const
it
uti
ondef
inest
henat
ureoft
heOf
fi
ceoft
heA-
Gasf
oll
ows:

“
88.(1)t
her
eshallbeanA-
GofGhwhoshal
lbeaMi
nist
erofSt
ateandt
hepr
inci
pal
l
egal
advi
sertot
heGovt.

(2)TheA-
Gshal
ldi
schar
gesuchotherdut
iesofalegalnat
ureasmayber
efer
redor
assi
gnedt
ohi
m byt
hePresi
dent
,ori
mposedonhim bythi
sConst
it
uti
on.

(3)TheA-Gshallber
esponsi
blef
ort
hei
nit
iat
ionandconductofal
lpr
osecut
ionsof
cri
minal
off
ences.

(4)Al
loff
encesprosecut
edinthenameoftheRepubli
cofGhshal
lbeatt
hesui
toft
he
A-Goranyotherper
sonauthor
izedbyhi
minaccordancewi
thanyl
aw.

(5)TheA-G shal
lber esponsi
blefortheinst
it
utionandconductofallci
vi
lcaseson
behal
foftheStat
e;andallci
vil
proceedi
ngsagainsttheSt
ateshal
lbei
nsti
tut
edbytheA
-Gasdefendant
.

(
6)TheA-
Gshal
lhav
eaudi
encei
nal
lcour
tsi
nGh.
”

TheA- Gi sapol it
icalappointeewhoal soser v esast heMi nisterforJustice.Hei s
responsibl
eforthei ni
ti
ati
onandconductofal lcrimi
naloffences.Hi t
herto,t
heCr iminal
andOt herOffencesPr ocedureAct,
1960,Act30conf err
edonpr ivat
eper sonst heright
toini
ti
atecriminalproceedingspers.57oft heCr imi
nalandOt herOf f
ences(Pr ocedure)
Act,1960,Act30.Thi spr ovi
sionhas,howev er,beenrepealedbys. 3oft heCr iminal
ProcedureCode( Amendment )Act,2002,Act633whi chhasconf err
edt hatri
ghtont he
A-G.Allinall
,Arti
cle88(3)oft he92Const i
tuti
onwhi chconferst herighttoiniti
ateand
i
nstit
utecriminalproceedingsholdswayov erotherprovi
sions.

Cri
mi nalproceedingsinGhnor mall
yst ar
tfrom thepoli
cewhoconducti nvest
igati
ons
i
ntocr i
minalcompl ai
ntsandar r
aignal l
egedof f
enderbefor
et hecourtonachar ge
containedinachar gesheet:sees.60( 1)(b)ofAct30.Thepol icealsoprosecute
cri
mi nalcasesatt heDi st
ri
ctandCi rcui
tCour t
sundert heauthor
ityoftheA- G:see
Appoi nt
mentofPubl i
cPr osecut
orsI nstr
ument( EI9).Inpracti
ce,thesecasesar e
l
imitedt ooffencespunishablebyf i
nes,mi sdemeanour
sandseconddegr eefeloni
es

9|
Page
thatarenotgraveinnat ur
e.Insomeoft hesecasest hedecisiontochargeasuspecti s
takenbytheA- GpertheSt at
eAt t
orneyswhoar eagent softheA- G.TheA-Gorhi sagent
cancallforacasedocketf r
om thepoliceforstudyandadv i
ce.TheA- G’sof f
icecanat
anyt i
me t ake overt he pr
osecution ofa case whi ch is been handled bypol ice
prosecut
ors.Itisclearthatcrimi
nalprosecuti
onr evolvesaroundt heA-Gast hepolice
onlyactathisbehestandassi stt
heA-G’ sOffi
ceinthepr osecuti
onofcr i
mi nalcases.

TheA-Galsohasthepowert
ostopthetr
ialofanycri
minal
off
encei
nGh.Hei satl
i
berty
t eranol
oent l
eprosequit
oter
minat
eallcri
minaltr
ial
satanyti
mebefor
ejudgment:see
s.54ofAct30.

TheA- G asaMi nisterofSt ateissubjecttot herul

esofi ndivi
dualandcol l
ectiv
e
minist
eri
alresponsibil
it
ythoughmanyofhi sfuncti
onsmustbeexer ci
sedindependent
ofpressurefrom hismi ni
steri
alcol
leagues.AsstatedbyJusti
ceVCRACCr abbe( “
The
Off
iceoft heAttorney -
General
”SecondLect ure–R.P.Baf fourMemor i
alLecturesat
th
KNUST,Kumasi ,27 Nov ember,2013):“inthi
s,asi notherfacetsofhiswor k,the
Att
orney-
Generalisrequi
redt
oexerci
sehisownjudgment
,independentl
yofpartyand
mini
steri
all
oyalt
ies,t
houghheisnotexpect
edt
oactinignoranceofcurrenti
ssuesof
publ
icpoli
cyandt hi
smeansbeingonspeaki
ngt
ermswithhi
scol l
eagues.
”

Ther ei stensi
onbetweentheA- G’spol
it
icalroleandhispur el
yl egalfuncti
ons.Bot h
rolesr equir
etheA-Gtoactint hepubli
cinterestandisalsoexpect edtoexer cisehis
discretioninanimpart
ialmanner.However,asCrabbeobserved,itisalwaysdiffi
cultto
mai ntaintheappear
anceofimparti
ali
tyi
namat t
erwhichhasahi ghpoliti
calcontent.

Nol
l
ePr
osequi

TheA- G may ,atanyst agebeforev erdictorj udgment ,enteranol l

epr osequii nany
cri
minalcaseandt herebydiscont
inuei t
.Thisi sdonebyt heA-Gi nformingt hetri
alcour
t
ei
therinwr i
ti
ngoror al
lyinthecourseoft heproceedi ngsthattheSt ateint endsthatthe
proceedi
ngsshoul dnotcont i
nue.Theaccusedshoul dthereuponbedi schar gedont he
countsinrespectofwhi chthenol
lepr osequiisent ered:sees.54ofAct30andt heLaw
Offi
cersDecree,1974( NRCD279) nBoat
.I engv.Yeboah,i twashel dt hatt heentryof
noll
eprosequiputsanendt othecriminalpr oceedingsagai nsttheaccusedper son.The
di
scharge,howev er,doesnotoper ateasabart of urtherpr oceedingsagai nstthe
accusedonaccountoft hesamef acts.

InRepubli
cv.Abr okwa,i
twashel dthatthepoweroft heA-Gt oenteranolleprosequi
cannotbet hesubjectofajudici
ali
nquiry,nei
thercanthepropriet
yoft heexerci
seof
thatpowerbequest i
onedbythebench.Thi spowervestedintheA-Gmaybedel egated
byhimt oanyper sonfortheti
mebei ngappointedtosignindictmentsortorepresent
theStat
eatt r
ial
soni ndi
ctmentinanyplace:sees.55(1)ofAct30.Nor mall
y,t
hesear e
StateAtt
orney nRepubl
s.I i
cv.AduKwabena,i twasalsoheldt hatthepowertoent er

10|
Page
nol
l
epr
osequii
svest
edi
ntheA-
Gandi
fthepoweri
sdel
egat
edt
oaSt
ateAt
tor
ney
,the
aut
hori
zati
ontotheSt at
eAtt
orneyshoul
dbei nwri
ting.I
nthatcase,t
heSt
ateAt
tor
ney
wasunabletopr oduceanywrit
tenauthor
izat
ionfrom theA-G andsohispur
por
ted
ent
ryofnoll
eprosequiwashel
dtobenullandvoid.

nRepv
I .AduKwabena[ 1979]2GLR323t heHCheldt hatbyv i
rt
ueofAct30, s.55(1),a
StateAttor
neymustpr oduceanor derinwr i
ti
ngtoshowt hathehasbeendi rectedby
theA-Gt oenteranoll
eprosequi.Thepracti
ceishowev erthati
faSt ateAttor
neywant s
toenteranol l
eprosequi
,amemomustbesentt otheDPPwhowi l
ldiscussitwitht he
AG forappr oval
.Thisisbecauset hepowercaneasi lybeabusedi flef
tt o State
Attor
neysalone.Theconversei
st hatitmayleadtodelays.Howev er
, nRepv
i .Adu- Tutu
Gyamf i(
unreport
ed)theCAsitt
inginKumasi soughttoov er
rul
etheAduKwabenacase.

Power
sofStateAtt
orneys
1.Toadv i
sethepoli
ceinrel
ati
ontocri
minal
matter
s.
2.Toprosecutecasesincourt
.
3.Toenternoll
eprosequionbehal
foftheA-
G.
4.Powerofarrest:
sees.4ofLawOf f
icer
sAct,
1974(NRCD279)

Delegati
onofpowersofprosecution
Forthepur posesofcri
mi nalprosecuti
ons,theA-G mayappointgener
all
yorforany
specif
iedclassofcri
minalcaseorf oranyspecif
iedarea,publ
i
coffi
cerstobepubl
ic
prosecutor
s.Thepubli
cpr osecutorsoappointedhasther i
ghtt
oconductthecr
imi
nal
caseofwhi chhehaschargebefor eanyDist
ri
ctCourt
.

Accordingt otheScheduletot heAppointmentofPubli

cPr osecut
orsInstrument,1976,
EI4,t hef oll
owingar epublicprosecutor
s:anypoliceof f
icernotbelow t herankof
Sergeant,SeniorInspect
ors,I
nspectorsandAss.I
nspectors,aLabourOfficerasdef i
ned
bypar74oft heLabourDecr ee,1966(NLCD157),Inspecti
ngPharmaci sts,Off
icersof
theDeptofGameandWi ldl
i
fenotbel owGameRanger ,Officer
softheMi n.ofForestr
y
notbelowTechni cal Of
fi
cer(Foresry
)etc.

COURTSWI
THCRI
MINALJURI
SDI
CTI
ON

Thecourt
swithcr
iminalj
uri
sdict
ioni
nGhanaaret
heSuper
iorCourt
sofJudi
cat
ureand
theLowerCour
tsasParli
amentmaybylawestabl
i
sh.TheSuper
iorCour
tsar
emadeup
oftheSC,t
heCA,theHCandt heRT.

TheLowerCour
tswit
hcri
minalj
uri
sdi
cti
onasestdundertheCour
tsAct
,1993(Act459)
asamendedbytheCour
ts(Amendment)Act
,2002(Act620)ar
etheCC,DCandJC.

11|
Page
Juv
eni
l
eCour
t

Act459,s.39asamendedbyAct620,s.5establ
i
shedtheJCpursuanttoAr
t.126(
1)of
the1992Consti
tut
ion.Unt
ilt
heestabl
i
shmentoftheJCunders.39( asamended),t
he
cour
twassetupbyt heCJunderanL.I
.todealwi
thcr
iminal
off
ences.

Unders.1oft
heJuveni
l
eJusti
ceAct
,2003(
Act653)
,aj
uveni
l
eisaper
sonunder18
year
sofagewhoi
sinconfl
i
ctwi
tht
helaw.

Composi
ti
on

UnderAct459,s.49(
1),
theCJmaydesignat
eaDCasaJC.Thecomposi ti
onofaJCi s
madeupofapanelof3–amagi str
ateoftheDCast hepr esidi
ngchai
randt woot
her
persons,
oneofwhom mustbeasocialwelf
areoffi
cerandt heother
,apersonnotl
ess
than25y ear
s.Bot
hthesoci
alwel
far
eoffi
cerandtheotherpersonareappoint
edbythe
CJont herecommendat
ionoft
hedir
ect
orofsocialwel
fare.

Jur
isdi
cti
on

Act459,
s.49(
3)givest
heJCcr i
minal
jur
isdi
cti
oni
nmat ter
sinv
olvi
ngajuv
eni
l
e.Fort
he
pur
poseofexer
cisi
ngthi
sjur
isdi
cti
on,t
heJCshallexer
ciseandhavet
hepowersoft
he
DC.

General
lytheJChasexclusi
vejuri
sdi
cti
onoveral
lmat
ter
sinvol
vi
ngjuv
enil
es–Act653,
s.17.Therearehoweverexcept
ionst
ot hi
sexcl
usi
vej
uri
sdi
cti
onassetouti
ns.17(
2)&
(3)ofAct653asfoll
ows:

a.I
fthere’
snoJC, acour
tofsummaryjur
isdi
cti
onmaydealwi
thappl
i
cat
ionf
orbai
l
butonlyi
fit
’si
nthebesti
nter
estoft
hejuveni
let
oheari
t

b.Whereajuv
eni
l
ecommi t
sanoffencewi
thanadul
t,bot
hoft
hem wi
l
lbet
ri
edi
na
cour
tofsummaryj
uri
sdi
cti
on.

c.Wheret
hejuv
eni
l
ecommi tsanoff
encepunishabl
ebydeat
h,i
tshal
lbehear
dbya
cour
tofsummar
yjur
isdi
cti
onandnotajuvenil
ecour
t–s.17(
4).

AJChasnoj ur
isdi
cti
ontosent
enceaj uv
eni
let
oapri
sonterm ortoser
veasent
encei
n
apr
ison.Juv
enil
esaresentonprobat
ionort
ocorr
ect
ional
inst
it
utes.

Pr
oceedi
ngs

UnderAct653,s.16,aJCshal
lsi
tinadi
ff
erentr
oom f
rom t
hatwhi
chsi
tti
ngsofother
cour
tsareheld,orondif
fer
entdaysf
rom t
hoseonwhichsit
ti
ngsofot
hercourt
sar e
hel
d.

12|
Page
Proceedi
ngsbeforeaJCarenothel dinpubl
ic.Act653,s.16(2)setsoutthepersons
al
lowedt obepr esent
.Theproceedingsbef
oret hecourtshallbeinfor
malandany
poli
ceoffi
cerwhohappenstobeinthecourtr
oom shall
notbeinuniform –s.16(
3).

Di
str
ictCour
t

Act459,s.45prov
idesthatDCsshallbeestabl
i
shedineachdi
str
ictofGhanaas
det
erminedbyt
heCJ.It
’scomposedofasi
ngl
eMagi st
rat
ewhoi
saLawy eroraCar
eer
Magist
rate.

Jur
isdi
cti
on

Thecr
iminalj
uri
sdi
cti
onoftheDCissetoutins.48ofAct459( asamended).ADChas
j
uri
sdi
cti
ontotrycasessummari
ly
;it’
showeverli
mitedtotr
yingseconddegr
eefel
oni
es
andmisdemeanourswheret
hepunishmentdoesnotexceed

 Af
ineof500penal
tyuni
ts;

 At
erm ofi
mpr
isonmentnotexceedi
ng2y
ear
s;or

 Bot
h

Asi
det hel
i
mitati
onabove,aDChasjur
isdi
cti
ont
ot r
yanyotherof
fencesui
tabl
etothe
A-G to be tr
ied summari
ly
,provi
ded the of
fence i
s notpunishabl
e by death,
i
mprisonmentforl
if
e…

I
nconsider
ingwhet
heracaseshoul
dbet
ri
edi
ntheDC,t
hef
fshoul
dbet
akeni
nto
account
:

 Thenat
ureoft
heof
fence;

 Theabsenceofci
rcumst
anceswhi
chwi
l
lrendert
heof
fenceofagr
aveorser
ious
char
acter
;

 Anyot
herci
rcumst
ances

TheDCalsohasjuri
sdi
cti
ontotr
yinchoat
eoffencesi
.e.att
empt
,abetment,conspi
racy.
ADCt her
eforedoesn’
thavej
uri
sdict
iontotr
yanof fencewher
et helaw cr
eati
ngt hat
off
encehasprescr
ibedaminimum penal
tywhichexceedsthepenal
typermitt
edtobe
i
mposedbyt heDC.

Act30,
s.178al
l
owedaDCt
otr
yacaseandr
emi
ttheaccusedt
otheCCf
orsent
enci
ng

13|
Page
butt
hatsect
ionhasbeenr
epeal
edbyAct633.

Theexcepti
ont ot
heaboveisins.48(4)whi
chal lowsaDCt oimposeasent enceof
moret han2y ear
swher eitisimposingasent enceonaper sonwithapr evi
ous
convi
cti
on – itmay impose the l
esserofthe i ncr
eased punishment(where an
enact
mentallowssame)ort
wicethemaximum sentenceprescr
ibedabove.

TheDCi salsothefor
um forcommi tt
alproceedingsbefor
eapersoniscommittedt
o
standfortr
ialonindi
ctment.Themagi st
rate’
sdut yi
st ofi
ndoutift
here’
sanycase
againstt
heaccusedandcommi thimt ostandtri
alattheHC.Atri
alonindi
ctmentwi
ll
beanul l
i
tyi
fthecommi t
tal
proceedi
ngsdonott akeplace.

Ci
rcui
tCour
t

UnderAct459,
s.40,t
her
eshal
lbeestabli
shedineachr
egionCCsasdeterminedbythe
CJ.Thecomposit
ionoft
heCCisasinglejudgewhoisalawyerofnotl
essthan5years
PQE.

Jur
isdi
cti
on

Thecr
imi
nalj
uri
sdi
cti
onoft heCCi
spr
ovi
dedi
nAct459,
s.43.ACChasj
uri
sdi
cti
oni
n
cr
imi
nalmat
ter
sotherthan

 Tr
eason

 Of
fencespuni
shabl
ebydeat
h

 Of
fencest
ri
abl
eoni
ndi
ctment

Therei
snol i
mitastothenumberofyearsthecourtcani
mposeinsent
encing.Cases
arehoweverl
imit
edtotheci
rcui
tinwhichi
thappened.Anoff
encewhi
chtakesplacein
Kumasicannotbetr
iedi
nTakoradiCC.

Hi
ghCour
t

Act459,
s.14;
Art
.139-
141of1992Const
it
uti
on

TheHCconsi stsoftheCJandnotl essthan20Just

ices.TheCJhaspowertoask,in
wri
ti
ng,signedbyt heCJanyot herJusticeofaSuper i
orCourtoraChai
rmanofa
RegionalTr
ibunalt
ositasaHCj udge.TheHCi sdulyconst
it
utedbyasi
nglej
ustice
si
tt
ingaloneorwithajur
yint
ri
alsoni ndi
ctment
.

I
nat
ri
alf
ort
heof
fenceoft
reason,
theHCi
sconst
it
utedby3JJssi
tt
ingt
oget
her
.

14|
Page
I
n principl
e,thereisonlyoneHC i n Ghana wit
h sev er
aldivi
sionsassetup and
det
ermi nedbyt heCJ.Inadditi
ontoregionaldi
vi
sions,therearealsotypedi
vi
sions
i
ncludingFinanci
alCour
t,FastTr
ackCourt
, CommercialCourt
,LandCourt
,HumanRight
Courtetc.

AnHCJudgemusthav
eatleast10y ear
sofpr
act
iceasal
awy
er.Theper
sonmustbe
ofhi
ghmor
alst
andi
ngandproveni
ntegri
ty.

TheHCunders.15ofAct459,
subj
ectt
oAr
t.140oft
he1992Const
it
uti
on,
hasor
igi
nal
j
uri
sdi
cti
oni
nallmatt
ers.

Excl
usi
veJur
isdi
cti
on

 Tr
ial
ofal
li
ndi
ctabl
eof
fences–Act459asamended.

 Tr
eason

 Act
sofpi
racy

 Enf
orcementofhumanr
ight
s–s.15,
Act459;
Art
.33.

Appel
l
ateJur
isdi
cti
on

 Judgment
sfr
om CC

 Judgment
sfr
om DC

 Judgment
sfr
om JC

Super
visor
yJur
isdi
cti
on

 Al
ll
owercour
ts–s.16,
Act459.

 Or
der
sitmayi ssuei
ncl
udecer
ti
orar
i,habeascor
pus,mandamus,quowar
rant
o,
pr
ohi
bit
ion,
etc.

Regi
onal
Tri
bunal

Ar
t.142–143;
s.23-
24,
Act459.

I
tconsistsofaChai rman(qual
i
fiedtobeaHCJudgei .
e.alawyerofatleast10year
s
PQE)andot herpersonswhomaybeLawy ersappoi
ntedbytheCJinconsul t
ati
onwit
h
theRegionalCoor
dinati
ngCouncilf
ortheRegi
oninwhichtheyar
esituat
ed.

15|
Page
Jur
isdi
cti
on

I
thas juri
sdi
cti
on onl
yi nrespectofcr iminalmatt
ers.I
thas or
igi
nalconcurrent
j
uri
sdi
cti
onwiththeHCincri
mi nalmat
ters.S.24ofAct459giv
est
heRTj ur
isdi
cti
ont o
t
rycer
tai
nspecif
icofences–Yebbi
f &Avali
fov.Republ
i
c.

TheRThowev
erdoesn’
thavej
uri
sdi
cti
ont
otr
yindi
ctabl
eof
fences.Al
lther
uleswhi
ch
appl
ytot
heHCappl
ytotheRT.

I
ntheexer
ciseofi
tsor
igi
nalj
uri
sdi
cti
on,t
heRTisdulyconst
it
utedbyapanelmadeup
oft
heChai
rmanandnotlesst
han2andnotmorethan4otherpanelmember
s.

Thedeci
sionoft
heRTshallbethedeci
sionofthemember s.Wherethemajor
itydoesn’
t
i
ncludet
hechairmanandanaccusedper sonisconvict
ed,theaccusedpersonshall
,
whereanoti
ceofappeal
isgiv
enagainstthedeci
sion,
begr ant
edbailbyt
heRT.

Appeal
sfr
om RTdeci
si
onsl
i
etot
heCA.

Cour
tofAppeal

Ar
t.136–138;
s.10-
13,
Act459.

I
t’
smadeupoftheCJandnotl
essthan10JJAs.I
t’
sdulyconst
it
utedby3JJAssi
tt
ing
att
hesamet
imeandwit
hthemostseni
oroft
hem presi
ding.

TheCJhaspowert
oappointanyJust
iceoftheSuper
iorCour
ttosi
tasaJA.AJAmust
beofnotl
esst
han12year
sst andi
ngasalawyer.

TheCJhaspowertocreat
evar
iousdi
vi
sionsoft
heCA.Pr esent
ly,
apar
tfr
om Accr
a;t
he
CAsitsi
nKumasi,CapeCoast
,Tamale,andKofor
idua.TheCJmaydet ermi
newhere
theCAsi
ts.

TheCA i
sboundbyitspr ev
iousdecisi
ons.Allthecour
tsl
owert
hant
heCA must
howev
erf
oll
owit
sdeci
sionswithr
especttoquesti
onsofl
aw.

TheCAhasj ur
isdi
cti
ont ohearanddetermineappeal sfr
om theHCandt heRT.Unders.
12ofAct459andAr t.123oftheConst i
tuti
on,
t hereareinst
anceswhereasi ngl
ejust
ice
cansitonamat t
erwhichdoesn’tinvolveafinaldecisi
onoft hecour
te. g.mot i
onfor
ext
ensionofti
met oappeal,i
nterl
ocutorymatters,etc.Whereanappealisrefusedbya
si
nglejust
iceinacr i
minalmat ter,t
heapplicanthast herightt
o havet hematter
det
erminedbytheCAdul yconsti
tuted.

TheCAhaspower s,
unders.13toeit
herconfi
rm asent
encepassedonanappell
antat
atr
ialorpassasent
enceinsubst
it
uti
onforthesent
encewhichwaspassedatthetr
ial
.

16|
Page
TheCAal
sohaspowert
oconf
ir
m orsubst
it
uteav
erdi
ctf
oundbyaj
udge/
jur
y/panel
.

TheCAcansetasi
deaspeci
alv
erdi
ctf
oraconv
ict
ionoracqui
tt
alaswar
rant
edbyl
aw.

Supr
emeCour
t

Legal
regi
me:
Art128–135of1992Const
it
uti
on;
s.1-
8ofAct459

TheSCconsi
stsoftheCJandnotlesst
han9ot
herJJSCs.I
tisdul
yconst
it
utedbynot
l
essthan5Just
icessi
tt
ingatt
hesameti
me.

Unders.7ofAct459,asingleJSCcansi tt
odetermineanappli
cat
ioni
namat t
erthat
doesnotinv
olv
et hef
inal
decisi
onoftheSC.Ifapersonisaggr
iev
edbythesingl
ejudge,
thepersoncanapplytohav etheappl
icati
ondeterminedbytheSCconst i
tut
edby3
JJSCs(inpr
acti
cethecourtsi
tsas5)
.ThedecisionoftheSCisbymajori
ty.

Apersonshal
lnotbequal
i
fiedt
osi
tasaJSCunl
esss/
hehasat
tai
nedatl
east15y
ear
s’
st
andingasalawyer
.

TheSCi sthefi
nalappell
atecourt.Ithasori
ginal
,appell
ate,supervi
sor
y,andr ev
iew
j
urisdi
cti
ons.TheSCisboundbyi tsprevi
ousdecisi
ons.I
thowev erhaspowertodepart
fr
om itsprevi
ousdecisi
onsifit
’sshownt hatthedecisi
onismani fest
lyerr
oneous.All
othercourt
sareboundbythedecisionsoftheSC.

Or
igi
nal
Jur
isdi
cti
on

S.3ofAct459andAr
t.130of1992Const
it
uti
on

TheSChasexcl
usi
veor
igi
nal
jur
isdi
cti
oni
n

 mat
ter
srel
ati
ngt
otheenf
orcementori
nter
pret
ati
onoft
heConst
it
uti
onand

 mattersar
isi
ngast o whetherParl
i
amentoranyot
heraut
hor
it
yorper
sonhas
exceededt
heirpower
sinpassinganenact
ment

Wher eanyoft hesei

ssuesari
seinanyproceedingsbef
oreacourtot
herthantheSC,
thatcour tshal
lstaytheproceedi
ngsandr eferthequest
ionoflaw tot heSC f
or
determinati
on.Thecour
tshal
lsubsequent
lydi
sposeofthecasei
naccordancewit
hthe
decisi
onoft heSC.

Appel
l
ateJur
isdi
cti
on

 Anappealshal
lli
efrom aj
udgmentoftheCAtotheSCasofr
ighti
nanycr
imi
nal
casewhenthecaseemanat
esfr
om theHCorRT.

17|
Page
 Wherethecaseemanat
esf
rom al
owercour
t,anappealt
otheSCshal
lbewi
tht
he
l
eaveoftheCA.

 Anappealli
esasofr
ightt
otheSCi
nacaser
elat
ingt
othei
ssueoforr
efusalofa
pr
erogat
ivewri
t.

 Art131(
2)prov
idesinstanceswher
etheSC mayent
ert
aincer
tai
nmat
ter
sbya
speci
all
eav
etoappeal.

 TheSChasexclusi
veappel
l
atej
uri
sdi
cti
onov
ercasesont
reason–Ar
t.131(
3)and
s.4(
3)ofAct459.

Super
visor
yJur
isdi
cti
on

Ar
t.132ands.4,
Act459

TheSChassupervi
soryjuri
sdi
cti
onov
eral
lothercour
tsandalladj
udi
cat
ingaut
hor
it
ies.
I
nexer
cisi
ngthi
sjuri
sdicti
on,t
heSCmayissueanyofthepr
erogati
vewri
ts.

Rev
iewJur
isdi
cti
on

Ar
t.133ands.6ofAct459

 TheSChaspowerstorevi
ewi
tsowndeci
sionsi
fthedeci
sioni
sfoundt
oconsi
stof
afundament
aler
rorr
esul
ti
ngi
nthemi
scar
riageofj
ust
ice.

 I
nt heexer
ciseofi
tsr
evi
ewj
uri
sdi
cti
on,
theSCi
sdul
yconst
it
utedbynotl
esst
han7
Justi
ces.

 TheSCal sohasexcl
usi
vej
uri
sdict
iontodetermi
newhet
heranof
fi
cialdocument
shal
lnotbepr
oducedi
ncour
tforsecuri
tyr
easons.

 TheSChasj ur
isdi
cti
onundert
heConsti
tut
iontogivecompensat
iontoaperson
wrongl
yconv
ict
edbyacour tofcompet
entjur
isdi
cti
onaft
ert
hatpersonhasbeen
acqui
tt
ed.

JURI
SDI
CTI
ON

Thejurisdi
cti
onofacour ti
stheauthor
it
yofthatcourtt
oenter
tai
nordecideacase.It
connotesthelimi
torextentoft
hepowerofthecour t
.TheDi
stri
ctCour
t,bei
ngalower
court
,hasnoj ur
isdi
cti
onexceptthatwhichisexpressl
yconfer
redoni tbyst
atute.

18|
Page
Juri
sdi ct
ioncannotbeconf err
edonal owercour tbypresumptionorbyimpl i
cati
on:see
Hausav.DawudaperOl l
ennuJ“ t
hel ocalcourtbeingacour tofi
nferi
orjurisdi
cti
oni s
notpr esumedt ohaveanyj urisdi
ctionuntilthecontrar
yisproved”;Peacockv .Beland
Kendal l(1667)85ER81;Ti mi t
imiv.Amabebe( 1953)14WACA374andRepubl icv.
Dist
rictCour tGradeI ,Dunkwa- on-Offi
n;expar teOwusu.I npracti
ce,t hest at
utory
l
imitationsonj uri
sdicti
onrelat
et olocali
ty,subj
ectmat t
erorti
me.Thej uri
sdicti
onoft he
Dist
rictCour tisregulat
edbyt heCour tsAct,1993,Act459,theCourts(Amendment )Act,
2002Act620, theDistr
ictCourtRules,2009( CI59)andt heLowerCour t
sandTr ibunals
I
nstrument ,1993( LI1574).

Geogr
aphi
cal
Jur
isdi
cti
on

The Di str
ictCour tisl egall
y empower ed to oper ate only wit
hin certain defi
ned
geogr aphi
calareasordistri
ct:seePar tIIofAct620, CI5,Order5andLI1574.ADi str
ict
Cour tcannot,theref
ore,unlessexpr esslyaut hori
zedbyst atut
e,exerci
sej uri
sdi
cti
on
overacauseormat ternotar i
singwi thi
nt hespeci fi
cgeogr aphi
calorj udicialdi
str
ict
assignedt oit.Thegeogr aphicaldist
rictsv aryfrom onecour ttotheot herandsot he
preciselimit
sofanycour tmustbespeci fi
call
ydet erminedbyexami nati
onofAct620,
CI59, LI1574ort hestat
utegr antingt
hej urisdi
ction.

I
thasbeenhel dthatproceedi
ngsbefor
eaMagi st
rat
ewhositsoutsi
dehisj
udi
cial
j
uri
sdict
ionareanul
l
ity
.Thiswasthedeci
si nRepubl
oni i
cv.Di
str
ictCour
tGr
adeI
,Korl
e
Gonno;expar
teAmpomah.

Geogr
aphi
cal
jur
isdi
cti
oni
ncr
imi
nal
cases

Thecriminalj
urisdi
ctionoftheDistri
ctCour ti
s,i
ntheabsenceofst atut
oryauthori
tyto
thecontr
ary,l
imitedtot hegeographi
calar eaorj
udi
cialdist
ri
ctspel
toutunderLI1574;
butthemai n stat
utoryenactmentt hatset soutdet ai
led pr
ovi
sionsr egul
ati
ng the
speci
fi
cpl aceoft ri
alofacr i
minalmatt erAct30,ss41- 49.Thesepr ovisi
onsmust
consequentl
ybecar efull
ystudi
edalongsideLI1574.Iftherei
saconf l
ict
,theprovi
sions
i
nAct30shoul dpr evail
.

Itisimpor
tanttoment i
ont hat
,asagener alrule,cri
mi naloffencesaretriablebythe
courtsofthi
scount ryonlyifcommi tt
edwi thinthet erri
tor
yofGhana,i ncludi
ngi t
s
terr
it
ori
alwatersandai rspaceaswel lasof fencescommi tt
edonashi porai r
craft
regi
ster
edorlicensedinGhana.Thisprinci
pleappliesequal l
yt otheDistr
ictCourt.An
actwhichwoul dconsti
tuteanoffenceifwhol lycommi t
tedinGhanawoul dsimil
arl
y
amounttoanof fencei
fpartl
ycommi t
tedoutsi
deGhana: seeAct459, s.56(2).

Ithasnowbeenconclusiv
elyhel
dbytheSupr emeCourtthatwhereaciti
zenofGhana,
employedbyt
hegov ernmentorbyastatutor
ycorporat
iondoes,out
sideGhana,anact
whichi
fdoneinGhanawoul dbepuni
shableasanoffence,hecanbetri
edandpunished

19|
Page
i
nGhana.Thatdeci si
onwasgi v
eninAppi
ahv.TheRepubl
ic.I
nthatcase,
thecour
thel
d
thatanof fenceofextort
ionwhichwascommi ttedout
sideGhanawast r
iabl
eand
punishabl
ei n Ghana because i
twas commi t
ted whi
l
et he suspectwas inthe
empl oymentoftheGover
nmentofGhana.

Thegener alrulei sthatev eryoffenceistobet ri

edwi thi
nthel ocalli
mitsoft he
j
urisdi
cti
onoft hecour twhereitwascommi t
tedorwher etheconsequencesoft heact
oromissionensuedbutnotwher etheaccusedorcompl ainantresi
des:s.45( a)ofAct
30.Wher etheoffencewascommi t
tedpar
tlyinonelocal
it
yandpar t
lyinanotherlocal
it
y
orconsistsofsev er
alactscommi t
tedindi
fferentar
eas,thetri
alcour twit
hjurisdi
cti
on
overanyoft hoseareasorl ocal
it
iesmayt r
ythecaseorhol dani nquiryastowher ethe
caseshouldbet r
ied:s.45(d)ofAct30

Whereatr
avel
lercommi t
sanof f
ence,thecourtt
otryhi
mistheonewi t
hinorthrough
whosel
ocal
it
ytheoffenderort
hev i
cti
m ortheobj
ectoft
heof
fencepassed:s.47.

Anoff
encecommi t
tedoutsi
deGhanaoratseawil
lbetri
edatt hecourtwit
hinwhose
l
ocal
i
tytheof
fenderfi
rstl
andsort
owhi
chheistr
ansfer
redther
eafter
:s.46.

Obj
ect
ionst
oGeogr
aphi
cal
Jur
isdi
cti
oni
nCr
imi
nal
Cases

Object
ionst
othejuri
sdicti
onofthecour
tshoul
dbetakenbefor
eoratthetimewhent
he
accusedisr
equir
edt opleadtot
hecharge,f
ail
i
ngwhichthecourtmayproceedwi
tht
he
tr
ialt
oconcl
usion:s.49,Act30.

Secti
on51( 5)
(b)ofAct459howev er,provi
desthati
ncr i
minalcaseifanobj ecti
oni s
rai
sedbyt heaccusedatorbef or
ethet i
mehei srequiredtopleadt othechar ge,the
courtshallconsidertheobject
ionandifitappear
stoitthatthereisaprimafaciepr oof
oftheobject i
on,itshallr
eportthemattertotheCir
cuitCour twhichshalldi
rectwher e
themat t
ershal l
bet r
ied.

ConsequenceorFai
l
uret
orai
seObj
ect
iont
oGeogr
aphi
cal
Jur
isdi
cti
on

I
ncr i
minalt ri
als,theMagi st
ratehasnoaut hor i
tyt odismisst hecaseorstri
keitout
mer el
ybecausei thasbeenf il
edint hewr ongf orum,unlesst hecaseiswithdr
awnby
thepr osecutionort heplai
ntifforunlessappl i
cationismadet odismissthesui
tunder
CI59,Or der16.Sect ion51(4)ofAct459i sex pli
citt
hatnoactdonebyorundert he
authorit
yoft heDi str
ictCourtisvoidorimpeachabl emerelybecauseitwasdoneorthat
anyact ,offenceormat t
eri
nr espectoforinr el
ationtowhicht heactwasdoneoccurred
beyondt hel imitsofthedistri
ctorareaf orwhi cht hecourtwasappoi nt
ed.Thecorr
ect

20|
Page
procedur
eisf
ort
heaccusedorpar
tyt
opr
oper
lyr
aiseanobj
ect
iont
othej
uri
sdi
cti
onof
thecourt
.

Jur
isdi
cti
onbySubj
ectMat
teri
nCr
imi
nal
Cases

Thesubj
ectmatterj
uri
sdict
ionoftheDi
str
ictCour
tincri
minalcasesi
scont
ainedins.
48ofAct459asamendedbyAct620.Act459,s.48( 1)provi
dest
hat
:“i
ncr i
minal
matt
ersaDist
ri
ctCourthasjur
isdi
cti
ont
otrysummaril
y–

(
a)Anoff
encepunishabl
ebyafi
nenotexceedi
ng500penal
tyuni
tsori
mpr
isonment
forat
erm notexceedi
ngt
woy ear
sorboth;

(
b)Anyot
heroff
ence(exceptanoff
encepuni
shabl
ebydeat horimpri
sonmentf
or
l
if
eoranoff
encedecl
aredbyanyenact
menttobefi
rstdegr
eefelony
…;

(
c)Anattemptt
ocommi
tanof
fencet
owhi
chpar
agr
aph(
a)or(
b)oft
hissect
ion
appl
i
es;

(
d)Abet
mentorconspi
racyi
nrespectofanysuchof
fence.
”

ADist ri
ctCour thasnoj uri
sdict
iont otryanof fencethemi nimum punishmentforwhi ch
i
sbey ondthatwhi chtheDi str
ictCour tcani mpose.Acasei npointisWat ar
av.The
Republ i
c.Int hiscase,t heaccusedwast riedandconv ictedbyaDi st
rictCour
tf orthe
chargeofknowi nglybeingconcer nedi nt hef r
audulentev asi
onofcust omsdut i
es
contrarytot heCr i
minalCode,1960( Act29) ,s317( j
).Themi nimum sentencef orthe
off
encewasaf ineof¢5, 000orf ivey earsi mpr i
sonmentwi thhardlabourorbot h.That
l
engthofi mpr i
sonmentwasf arinexcessoft hesent encingpower soft hecourtatthat
ti
me.Howev er,prosecutionont headv i
ceoft heA-G, wascommencedi nadist
rict.The
courtcommi t
tedt heaccusedf orsent encebyaci rcuitcour twheret heaccusedwas
fi
ned¢5, 000ori ndef aultfi
vey ears’impr isonmentwi t
hhar dlabour.Onappeal,itwas
hel
dt hattheor i
ginaltri
alintheDi stri
ctCour twasout sidet hejuri
sdi
ctionoftheDi st
rict
Courtandt heA- Ghadnopowert odi r
ectt hatacaseout sidethecour t’
sjur
isdicti
on
shouldbet riedbyi tsoast oconf erjurisdictiononi t.

Thepr
inci
plei
ntheWat
aracasehasbeencodi
fi
edi
nAct620,
s.48(
3)

TheDistr
ictCourthasalsobeenvest
edwithjur
isdi
cti
ont otr
yjuveni
leoff
encesand,f
or
thatpur
pose,isempower edt oexer
ciseal
lthepower sandf uncti
onsoftheJuveni
le
Courti
nexistencebefor
eAct459andt heChi
ldr
en’sAct,1998,Act560.

Fi
nall
y,aDistr
ictCourthasnojur
isdi
cti
ontotryanyof
fencetri
abl
eoni ndi
ctment
:see
Act30,s.2(2),(3)and(4)asamendedbyAct272.ADi st
ri
ctCourtcanonlycommit
i
ndict
abl
eof f
encesf ort
ri
ali
ntheappr
opriat
eforum.
21|
Page
 THEI
NSTI
TUTI
ONOFCRI
MINALPROCEEDI
NGS

Met
hodsofi
nst
it
uti
ngpr
oceedi
ngsbef
oret
heDi
str
ictCour
t

Ther
ear ethr
eemainmet
hodsf
ori
nst
it
uti
ngcr
imi
nalpr
oceedi
ngsbef
oret
heDi
str
ict
Cour
t.Theseare:

(
i) Bymakingacomplai
ntandappl
yingfort
hei ssueofasummonsorawar r
ant
tocompelt
heappearanceofanall
egedoffenderbefor
et hecour
ttoanswer
char
gesint
hesummonsorwar r
ant.Sees.60(1)(a)ofAct30;or

(
ii
) Bybri
ngingapersonarrest
edwit
houtawarr
antbefor
ethecour
tonachar
ge
cont
ainedinachargesheet
.Sees.60(
1)(
b)ofAct30;or

(
ii
i) Whereanof f
encei scommi ttedi nthepr esenceofaMagi str
ate,byt he
Magistrate arresti
ng or or deri
ng anot her to arr
est the offender and
commi tti
ngtheof f
endertocust ody(sees.17ofAct30) ,butsubjecttothe
prov
isionsrelatingtobail
.Thisi stheprocedureusuall
yadoptedforof f
ences
l
ikeinsulti
ngt hecour tunderAct29,s.224ordi st
urbi
ngt hecourtunders.
223ofAct29whi chareoftencommi t
tedinthepresenceoftheMagi st
rate.

Compl
aintandappl
i
cat
ionf
orsummonsorwar
rant

Anyper sonwhobelieves,fr
om ar easonableandprobabl
ecause,thatanoffencehas
been commi t
ted by any person,may make a compl ai
nantthereofto a Distr
ict
Magistratewhohasj uri
sdicti
ont ot r
yori nqui
reint
otheallegedoff
ence,orwithi
nthe
l
ocallimi t
sofwhosej uri
sdict
iont heper sonaccusedisall
egedtobeorr esi
de:sees.
61(1)ofAct30.Suchacompl aintmaybemadebyapol iceoffi
cer
,apriv
atepersonora
publi
cof fi
ceri
ntheexerciseofhispubl i
cdut i
es.

Inallcases,t
hecomplai
ntshouldbemadeor al
l
yori nwrit
ing.Wherethecompl ai
nti
s
madeor all
y,i
tshoul
dber educedintowr
iti
ngbyt heMagistrat
e,andineithercasei
t
shouldbesignedbyt
hecompl ai
nantandt
heMagi st
rat
e:sees.61(2)ofAct30.

Upon r eceivi
ng the compl aint,the Magistrate eit
herr efuse t
oi ssue the process,
recordi
nghi sreasonsforsuchr ef
usal,ormayi ssueasummonsorawar rantashe
thi
nksf ittocompelt heattendanceoft heaccusedbef orehiscourtor,iftheof f
ence
appearst obeoneov erwhichhehasnoj ur
isdicti
on,beforesomeot hercompet entcourt
havingjurisdict
ionoverit
:sees.61( 3)ofAct30.Thecour tishowev ernotempower ed
toissueawar r
antinthefirstinstanceunlesst hecompl ainthasbeenmadeuponoat h
byeitherthecompl ai
nanthimsel forbyamat eri
alwitnessorwi t
nesses:sees.61( 4)of
Act.

22|
Page
Everysummonsshallcontain,i
nteral
ia,ashor
tst
atementoft
heof f
encewi
thwhicht
he
personischar
ged,andshallindicat
et hecour
twheret
heaccusedistoappearandt
he
dateandti
meofappear ance,aswellashisnameandparti
cul
ars.

Servi
ceoft hesummonsi sef f
ectedont heaccusedper sonalbyt hepoliceort he
prosecut
ororanof f
ici
aloft hecour tissui
ngi t,orbyl eav
ingacopyoft hesummons
withapersonagedabov e16y earsfoundi nthel astknownorusualpl aceofabodeor
workoftheaccused, orbyaffixi
ngacopyt hereoft osuchaplace.Ser
viceonempl oyees
orcivi
lser
vantsiseffectedthrought hei
rempl oyersorheadsofdepar t
ment :seess.63-
66ofAct30.Af terthecompl aintandt heissueofasummonsorwar rant,t
hepoliceor
thepubli
cprosecutormayt akeupt hepr osecuti
onoft hecase.

Ar
restwi
thoutwar
rantandpr
oduct
ionbef
orecour
t

Act30, ss10and12asamendedbyt heCriminalProcedureCode( Amendment )Decree,

1973( NRCD235)cont ainprovi
sionsonar restwithoutwar r
antofasuspectwhohas
commi ttedorisaboutt ocommi tanoffence.Apol i
ceof f
icerorapr iv
ateciti
zenmay
arr
estwi thoutawar r
antaper sonwhohasact ual
lycommi ttedorisint heprocessof
commi tti
nganof f
encei nhispresence.Anof f
iceroftheAttorney-
General’
sDepar t
ment
oforabov etherankofSt ateAttorneyhaspowerofar rest:seeLaw Of fi
cersDecree,
1974(NRCD279) ,s.4.Anyoft het hesethreepersonsmayal soarr
estwi t
houtanyone
suspectedofcommi tti
nganof f
ence,sav ethatsuchanar restwithoutwar r
antbya
pri
vateci t
izenorgovernmentof f
ici
alislawfulonlywhereanof f
encehasact uall
ybeen
commi tted.Thecategori
esofcr i
meswhoseof fendersmaybear r
estedwi t
houtwarrant
havebeensetouti nNRCD235.

TheEconomicandOr ganisedCri
meOffi
ceAct,
2010( Act804)author
izest
heExecuti
ve
Dir
ector
,histwodeputiesandsomespecif
iedoff
icer
st oexerci
sethesamepower sof
arr
estasthoseexer
cisedbyt hepol
i
ce.

Thepowerofar
restbyt
hepol
i
cemustbeexercisei
ntheli
ghtoft
hiswarni
ngbythe
Supr
emeCour nHemansv
ti .Cofi
e[1996/ t
7]SCGLR595;“hedut
yofthepoli
cewasto
protectthel
if
eandproper
tyofthecit
izenr
yandnott oactasdebtcol
lector
s.Thepol
i
ce
hadnopowert oarr
estawif
ewhenl ookingforherhusbandorasonwhenl ooki
ngfor
thef at
herorviceversaasithappenedi nt heinst
antcase.Suchpr act
icemustbe
roundlycondemned as const
itut
ing a negati
on ofthe fundamentalri
ghts oft
he
i
ndividualsi
nvol
ved.
”

PROCURI
NGTHEATTENDANCEOFTHEACCUSED

Asagener
alr
ule,al
lcr
imi
nalpr
osecut
ionsmustt
akepl
acei
nthepr
esenceoft
he

23|
Page
accused:
see1992Const
it
uti
on,
art
icl
e19(
3).Theonl
yexcept
ionst
othi
srul
ear
e:

(
i) Wheret heaccused conducthimselfinsuchamannerast orenderthe
conti
nuati
onoftheproceedingsinhispresencei
mpract
icabl
eandt hecour
t
order
shimt oberemovedforthetri
alt
opr oceedi
nhi
sabsence:19(
3)(b)
;

(
ii
) Wheret
heaccusedref
usest
oappeari
nthecour
ttobet
ri
edaf
terhehasbeen
dul
ynot
ifi
ed:
19(3)
(a)

(
ii
i) Wheretheaccusedwhohasnotbeenchar
gedwi
thaf
elonyf
ail
stor
eappear
af
teranadj
ournment:
s.170(
1),
Act30;

(
iv) Wheretheoffencechargedispunishablebyafi
neonl
yorimpri
sonmentnot
exceedi
ng3mont hsandt heaccusedpleadsgui
l
tyi
nwri
ti
ngorappear
sbyan
advocat
e:s.70(1)
,Act30

Modeofpr
ocur
ingt
heat
tendanceoft
heaccusedper
son

1.Pr
oduct
ionf
rom cust
ody

Wherether
ehasbeenanarrestandachar
ge,t
heaccusedper
soncanbekepti
npol
i
ce
cust
odyandproducedf
rom cust
odyt
otheavai
l
abl
ecourt.

2.At
tendanceonpol
i
cebai
l

Wheret
herehasbeenanar restandachar ge,t
heaccusedper
sonmaybegr
ant
ed
pol
i
ceenqui
rybai
ltoat
tendcourtonaspeci
fi
eddate.

3.I
ssueofasummons

Wher
eaf or
malcompl ainti
slodged bef
oreaMagistr
ateand asummonsi
ssued
r
equi
ri
ngt
heaccusedpersontoat
tendcour
tonaspeci
fi
eddat
e.

4.I
ssueofawar
rant

Acourtmaybeaskedt
oissueawar
rantf
ort
hear
restofaper
sonsot
hathemaybe
br
oughtt
ocour
t.

Tr
ial
int
heabsenceofaccusedper
son:
sees.170,
Act30

I
nt hei nstancethatt heaccused i
sabsentwhent hecourtwant stotr
yhim,t he
prosecuti
oncomest ocourtbywayofmot i
oni nothertoproceedwiththetr
ialin
absenti
a.The mot i
on mustbe accompanied by an af
fi
davitdeposed t
o by the
prosecuti
on.Pers.170,t heaccusedmaybet r
iedinabsenti
aaf teranadj
our
nment
underthefollowi
ngcircumst
ances:

24|
Page
(1)Whereatt heti
meorpl acet o whi
cht hehearing orfurt
herhear
ing hasbeen
adj
ourned,t
heaccuseddoesnotappearbef or
etheCour twhichmadet heorderof
adj
ournment,t
heCourtmay,unlesstheaccusedpersonischargedwi
thfelony,
proceed
wit
htheheari
ngorfur
therheari
ngasi ft
heaccusedwer epresent
.

(2)Wher eaCour tissati

sfi
edthataper sonaccusedofanof f
encewhoi sboundby
bondt oappearatahear i
ngoradjournedheari
ngofthecase,isbyreasonofill
nessor
accidentunabl
eatthedateofthehear i
ngorfurt
herhear
ingtoappearpersonal
lybef
ore
theCour t,
itmay,i
ntheabsenceoft heaccused,or
deraf ur
theradj
our
nmentf orati
me
thatislawfulandreasonabl
eandt hetimeconditi
onedintheaccused’
sbondshal lbe
consideredtobevari
edaccordi
ngly.

(3)WheretheCour tconvi
ctstheaccusedint
heabsenceoft
heaccused,itmayset
asidetheconvicti
ononbei ngsat
isfi
edthatt
heabsenceoftheaccusedwasf r
om
causesoverwhi chtheaccuseddidnothaveacontrol
,andt
hattheaccusedhada
probabl
edefenceont hemeri
ts.

(4)Whereasentencei spassedi nt heaccused’sabsenceundersubsecti

on(1),t
he
Courtshal
lgivedirect
ionsf orthecar r
yingoutoft hesent enceandshal
lissueit
s
commitmentorotherwar rantandi naddi t
iontoauthorisi
ngt hecar
ryi
ngoutofthe
sent
ence,thewarrantshall,ifnecessary,bedeemedt oaut hor
iset
hearr
estofthe
convi
ctedper
sonforthepurposeofcar ry
ingoutthesentence.

(
5)Thepersoneff
ecti
nganarrestshal
lendorsethedateofthear
restont
hebackofthe
war
rantandt hesentenceofi mpri
sonmenti mposedonaper sonarr
est
edont hat
war
rantshal
lcommencef r
om thedateofthatperson’
sar
rest.

(
6)Whereanaccusedwhohasnotappear edischargedwi t
hfel
ony,oriftheCourt
,
r
efrai
nsf
rom convi
cti
ngtheaccusedi
nt heabsenceoftheaccused,theCourtshal
l
i
ssueawarr
antforthear
restoft
heaccusedandfortheaccusedt
obebr oughtbef
ore
t
heCourt
.

Wi
tnesses

Commi
ssi
onsf
ort
heexami
nat
ionofwi
tnesses

124.I
ssueofcommi
ssi
onf
orexami
nat
ionofwi
tness
(
1)Wher
etheHi
ghCour
toraCi
rcui
tCour
tissat
isf
ied
a)t
( hatexami
nat
ionofawi
tnessi
snecessar
yfort
heendsofj
ust
ice,
and
(b)thatt
heatt
endanceofthatwi
tnesscannotbeprocur
edwithoutt
hedel
ay,expense
orinconv
eni
encewhich,i
nthecir
cumstancesofthecase,wouldbeunr
easonabl
e,the

25|
Page
Courtmay dispense withthe at
tendance and i
ssue a commi
ssi
on to a Di
str
ict
Magist
rat
e,withi
nt hear ea ofwhosejuri
sdict
ion t
hewitnessr
esi
des,totakethe
evi
denceoft
hewi tness.
(2)TheMagi str
atetowhom thecommi ssionisi
ssuedshallpr
oceedt otheplacewhere
thewitnessisorshallsummont hewi tnessandaftertheMagi str
atei
ssat i
sfi
edthat
suff
ici
entnoticehasbeengiventot hepartiest
otheproceedings,theMagistr
ateshal
l
takedownt heev i
denceofthewitnessint hesamemanner ,andmayf orthispurpose
exerci
set hesamepower s,asi nt hecaseofat ri
al.Commodor e@ Kayaav.The
Republi
c;Appiahv.TheRepubli
c.
125.Appl
i
cat
ionf
ori
ssueofcommi
ssi
on
Wher
einthecourseofanenquir
y,at
ri
al,
oranyot
herpr
oceedi
ngsundert
hisActbef
ore
aDi
str
ictMagi
str
ateitappear
s
(a)thatacommi ssi
onoughttobeissuedfortheexami
nat
ionofawi
tnesswhose
evi
denceisnecessar
yfort
heendsofj
ust
ice,
and
(b)thattheattendanceofthatwitnesscannotbeprocuredwithoutt
hedel
ay,expense,
orinconv eni
encewhichinthecircumstancesofthecase,woul dbeunr
easonable,the
Magi st
rateshallappl
ytotheHighCour toraCi r
cui
tCour tstati
ngther
easonsfort he
appli
cation;andtheCourtmayi ssueacommi ssi
oni ntheprescri
bedmannerprovided
orrejecttheappli
cati
on.
126.Par
ti
esmayexami
newi
tnesses
(1)Thepar ti
estopr oceedi
ngsundert hi
sActi nwhi chacommi ssi
oni sissuedmay
respect
ivelyfor
war dt he i
nter
rogator
ies i
n wr i
ti
ng whi ch the Courtdirecti
ng t
he
commi ssionmayt hi
nkr el
evanttotheissue,andt heDistri
ctMagi str
atetowhom the
commi ssioni
sdirect
edshallexaminethewitnessont hoseinter
rogatori
es.
(2)Apart
ytopr
oceedi
ngsunderthi
sActmayappearbefor
etheMagi
str
atebycounsel
,
orinper
son,
andmayexamine,cr
oss-exami
ne,
andre-
examinet
hewit
ness.
(
3)Itisnotnecessar
yfort
hedeposi
ti
ontobet
akeni
nt hepr
esenceoftheaccusedi
f
t
heaccusedorcounseloft heaccusedhadtheopport
uni
tyto cr
oss-exami
nethe
wi
tness.
127.Ret
urnofcommi
ssi
on
(1)Af tert hecommi ssioni ssuedundersect i
on124orsect ion125hasbeendul y
executedi tshallber eturned,togetherwiththedepositi
onoft hewit
nessexami nedto
theCour twhi chi ssuedi tandt hecommi ssion,theret
urnofthecommi ssion,andthe
deposi t
ionshal lbeopen, duringnor malworkinghours,
toinspecti
onoftheparti
es,and
may ,subj ecttot hejustexcept ions,bereadinev i
denceinthecasebyeitherpart
y,and
shallform par toft herecord.
(
2)Adeposi
ti
onsotakenmayalsober
ecei
vedi
nev
idenceatanysubsequentst
ageof
t
hecasebef
oreanot
herCour
t.

26|
Page
 DRAFTI
NGOFCHARGES

Thechar georcount,thereadingofwhichprovi
desthestar
tofcri
minalpr
oceedi
ngs,i
s
verysignif
icanti
nev erycri
minaltri
al.Wher
eitappearstothecourtt
hatthechar
geis
defect
iveinf orm orsubstance,thecourtmayor deri
ttobeal t
eredbyamendment ,
substi
tuti
onoraddi t
ionofanew char geunderAct30,s176(1);TogbeFit
iIVv.The
State;
Statev.KwasiBoat eng

Iti
simper ativethattheaccusedper sonbechar gedwi ththespeci f
iccrimef orwhichhe
hasbeenar rai
gnedbef oret hecour t.Asagener alrule“noacti spunishablebyadi stri
ct
courtunlessacer tai
nst atut eprohibit
sthedoingoft heactbyt heci ti
zen,andt hecour t
i
sgi venjuri
sdicti
ont ot rythatof fence”perMensahBoi sonJi nMensuov .TheRepubl ic.
Thiswasacasei nwhi cht heaccusedwaschar gedwi thandconv ictedfort heoffence
ofcont emptofcour tonf act samount i
ngtoint erf
eringwi thproceedingsoft hecour t
withoutthechar gesheetr ef er
ri
ngt oanysectionofanyAct .InAgyiriv.COPi twashel d
thatfai
luretochar get heaccusedf ormall
yrender sthet ri
ali
mpr oper.Inthatcase,there
wasnor ecordoft heaccusedhav i
ngbeenchar gedandt heinvesti
gat i
ngofficerwasnot
call
edtot hrowlightont hi
s.

The1992Const itut
ionexpressl
ypr ovi
desi nar t
icle19(11)that:“noper sonshallbe
convictedofacr iminaloff
enceunlesstheof fencei sdefi
nedandt hepenaltyfori
tis
prescribedinawr i
ttenlaw.”Art
icl
e19( 5)prescribesthattheactoromi ssi
onmust
constituteanoff
enceatt hetimeittookplace.Articl
e107(b)furt
herf or
bidsPar l
i
ament
fr
om l egisl
ati
ngretr
ospecti
velyt
oaffectadverselyorlimitt
herightsandl i
berti
esofany
person.

Consequent l
y,the charge shoul d state expresslyint he st
at ementofof fence the
specif
ic statute creat
ing the of fence and whi ch the actoromi ssion all
egedly
consti
tuti
ngt heoffencei scontrar
yt o.Insomecases,mor ewi llberequi
redbesidet he
secti
onoft hest at
utecr eati
ngtheof fence.Wher eaper sonhasbeenchar gedwi th,f
or
i
nstance,sel l
ing abovet he control
led price,ithas been hel dthatthe execut i
ve
i
nstrumentf i
xingthecont rol
ledpricemustbest ated,
inaddi ti
ont othestatut
ecr eati
ng
theoffence:seeRepublicv.Duf a.

I
tist
obenot
ed,
howev
er,
thatachar
gei
snotpr
oper
lyl
aidi
fiti
sbr
oughtonl
yunderany

27|
Page
oft
hef
oll
owi
ngsect
ions:

(
i) Adef
ini
ti
onsect
ion

(
ii
) Asect
iondef
ini
ngani
ntent
ionundert
hecr
ime;
or

(
ii
i) Asect
ionspel
l
ingoutt
hepuni
shmentf
ort
heof
fence.

I
fno secti
on can befound i
nt hestatut
ewhich cr
eat
estheoff
encebesi
desthe
def
ini
ti
on,i
ntent
ionorpunishmentsect
ions,t
hentheactoromi
ssi
oncomplai
nedof
maynotamounttoanoffenceinl
aw.

Reasonabl
einf
ormat
ion

Onceachar gehasbeenl ai
d,thenextessenti
alrequi
rementisthatt
hechar
gesheet
shouldprovi
dereasonabl einfor
mationtot heaccusedpersonofthechar
gepref
err
ed
againsthi
mi ntermsofAct30,s112asamendedbyAct261,s1.Theexpr essi
on
“necessar
yforgivi
ngr easonableinf
ormation”i
ns112( 1)ofAct30hasbeenstat
edto
i
mpor tanobject
ivetest:seeNkansahv .TheRepubli
c.

Joi
nderofchar
ges

Thegeneralr
uleisthatever
ydist
inctof
fenceshoul
dbepr efer
redinaseparatecharge
:Lawsonv
sheet .TheRepubli
c.However,twoormor echargesmaybej oi
nedt oget
her
onthesamechar gesheetandtri
edtogetherpr
ovi
dedthechar gesar
e“foundedont he
samef act
sorform partofaseri
esofoffencesofthesameorsi mil
archaract
er.”See
Act30,s109(2)
.

Joi
nderofaccusedper
sons

Act30,s110pr ovi
desthatcertai
npersonsmaybechar gedandt ri
edtogether
.These
arepersonsaccusedofthesameordi ff
erentoff
encesprov i
dedthattheoff
enceswere
commit t
edinthecourseofthesamet ransacti
onoraref oundedont hesamef act
sor
for
mspar tofseri
esofoffencesofthesameorsi mil
archar act
er,orareaccusedof
abetmentorattemptt
ocommi tanof
fence.

Atri
alshal
lnotbeinval
idat
edbyreasononlyt
hattwoormor eper
sonshav ewr ongly
beentr
iedtoget
herononecomplaint,char
gesheetorindi
ctmentunlessobjecti
oni s
madebyanyoftheaccusedatt
hetimeorbefor
etheaccusedwascalledupont oplead.

St
atementofof
fence

28|
Page
Thepr obl
emswhi
char
isei
nrespectoft
hest
atementofof
fenceusual
l
yconcer
n
si
tuat
ions:

(
a)wherethesect
ionoft
hest
atut
ecr
eat
ingt
heof
fencei
snotst
atedi
nthechar
ge
sheet
;or

(
b)wher
ethewr
ongsect
ionoft
hatst
atut
eisst
atedi
nthechar
gesheet
.

InRepublicv.Dufaitwashel dthatbyvir
tueofs112( 1)and(2)ofAct30asamended
byAct261,s1,i tisnownotmandat or
yt orefertotheenactmentcreati
ngt
heof f
ence
charged,savethatwhereit
somi ssi
onwoul dresul
tinthel
ackofreasonablei
nfor
mat i
on
ast othechargewhi chtheaccusedfaces,thechargeswillbehel
dbad.Asi mil
arview
washel di n Nkansahv .TheRepubl i
c wheret hechargesheetf ail
edalt
ogetherto
ment i
ontheexecutiveinst
rumentcreat
ingtheof f
enceandy etanappealontheground
thatthechargewasdef ect
ivewasdismissed.

Mi
squot
ati
onofsect
ioncr
eat
ingt
heof
fence

nDakur
I uguv.TheRepubl i
cwheret hest at
ementofof f
encei nachar geofdeceitof
publicoffi
cerreferredtos257i nsteadofs251ofAct29,t heerrorwashel dtobea
meret echnical
i
tywhi chdidnotoccasi onasubstanti
almiscarr
iageofjusti
ce.Itshoul
d
benot edt hati
nt hatcase,inaddit
iont othefi
ndingthattherewasnomi scarri
ageof
j
ustice,thecourtf oundthattheparticul
arsofoffencestatedwereprecisel
ywhatt he
accusedwaschar gedwith.

Simi
lar
ly,
inBull
ey-
Neequayev.TheSt
ate,
fai
luretost
ate“subsecti
on(22)
”inadditi
onto
themainsecti
on296i nthestat
ementofoffenceinachar geofall
owingaf eroci
ous
dogtobeatl ar
geunmuzzledwasheldt obeamer etechnical
i
tyandnotfataltothe
conv
ict
ion.

Par
ti
cul
arsofof
fence

Pr
obl
emsar
isi
ngi
nrespectoft
hepar
ti
cul
arsofof
fenceusual
l
yconcer
n:

(
i) i
nadequate part
icul
arsinthe char
ge sheetr
enderi
ng the char
ge sheet
ambiguous,
erroneous,
unknowntoourl
awsorbadfordupl
i
cit
y;or

(
ii
) i
mproperuseofwordsandexpr
essi
onint hechar
gesheetr
ender
ingt
he
char
gevague,
ambi
guousorsi
mpl
yerr
oneous.

Ther eareanumberofcasesi nthelaw r

epor
tswhichhav eheldthatanomi ssionof
particul
arsoranav er
mentwhichisasinequanonorconst i
tut
et hegravamenoft he
offenceisfatalt
ot hechar
geandcannotbecuredbytheev i
dence.Thecor r
ectlawis
statedinAndohv .TheRepubl
i
c(1970)CC42,CAandSt at
ev.Lawmann[ 1961]GLR(Pt
II
)698, SC.
29|
Page
Simplystat
ed,
thecorr
ectlawisthatitissuf
fici
entfort
hechargetocont
ainpart
icul
ars
necessar
ytogiver
easonablei
nformationtotheaccusedastothenat
ureofthecharges
hefaces.Whatwil
lamountto“reasonablei
nformati
on”wil
ldependonthefact
sofeach
case.

Dupl
i
cit
y

Wher etheaccusedal l
egedlycommi ttedmor et hanoneof f
ence,thechar gesmaybe
l
aidinonechar gesheet .Eachof fenceshoul d,howev er,becov er
edbyasepar atecount
sett
ingoutsepar atepar t
icularsforeachof fence.Wher et heof f
encesar ecombi nedi n
onechar georcounti nsuchawayast oembar rasstheaccusedorpr ej
udicehist rial
andt oresulti
nami scarri
ageofj ust i
ce,thechar gemaybeobj ectedtoanddi smissf or
dupli
city
.Onecasewhi chill
ust r
atest hepointofdupl i
cityisCOPv .Sencherey.Int hat
case,therewer etwosepar ateanddi st
inctoffencesi nt hatthecashal l
egedlyst olen
wasmadeupof£20and£2510sgi vent otheaccusedont wodi f
ferentoccasions.The
accusedwaschar gedbef oret heMagi st
rateCour t,Kumasiwi ththeof f
enceofst ealing
£4510s.Hewasconv i
cted.Onappeal ,t
heconv icti
onwasquashedont heground,inter
al
ia,thatthechargewasbadf ordupl i
city.

Iti
simport
anttoemphasi
set
hatanobj
ect
iont
oachar
geongr
oundsofdupl
i
cit
ywi
l
lbe
sustai
nedonl
yif:

(
i) t
heaccusedwi
l
lbeembar
rassed;
or

(
ii
) t
hathi
str
ial
wil
lbepr
ejudi
ced;
and

(
ii
i) t
hatei
therorbot
hwi
l
lresul
tinami
scar
ri
ageofj
ust
ice.

I
twillal
mostcert
ainl
ybedi sall
owedi ft
hesecondit
ionsar enotest
abl
i
shedori
fthe
obj
ecti
onrai
sesapuretechnical
it
y:seeOgbeborv.COP( 1950)13WACA22@ 23;R.v.
Asi
egbu(1937)3WACA142andDar kwav.TheRepubli
c.

Exampl
eofhowt
hechar
gesheeti
spr
epar
ed

Tom appr oachedBob,acar penter,toassi

stinast eali
ngexpediti
on.Bobagr eedt ogo
ont heexpedi ti
onandi nfactusedhi sowncrowbaradapt edtof aci
li
tatetheopeningof
adoort of orci
blybreakintothegoatpenofhi sneighbour,Mensah.Theypi ckedone
goatf rom thepenandwhenconf rontedbytheneighbour,Tom knockedMensahdown,
unconsci ous.BothTom andBobescaped.Tom wasl at
ercaughtred-handedsell
ingthe
goatt oachopbarkeepercal ledJohn.Whenar r
estedTom gav east at
ementadmi t
ti
ng
thef actsbutaddedt hathewasor deredtostealthegoatbyt heinspectorinchargeof
thatpol i
cest at
ionforhi
sEast ersoir
ee,whichtur
nedoutt obef al
se.

I
NTHECI
RCUI
TCOURTOFJUSTI
CE

30|
Page
 KUMASI
,ASHANTI

AD2014

COURTCASENO:
…….
.

I
NTHEMATTEROFTHECRI
MINALCASEOF

THEREPUBLI
C

VRS

1.TOM KRUGA

2.BOBLI
TTLE

3.JOHNNAT

COUNTONE

STATEMENTOFOFFENCE

CONSPIRACYTOSTEALcont
rar
ytosect
ions23(
1)and124oft
heCr
imi
nalOf
fences
Act
,1960,Act29

PARTI
CULARSOFOFFENCE

1.TOM KRUGA,
unempl
oyedandBOBLI
TTLE,
Car
pent
er

2.Onoraboutt he15th dayofNovember ,2014inKumasii

ntheAshant
iRegi
onand
wit
hinthejur
isdi
cti
onofthisCour
tdidagreetoget
herwit
hacommonpurposet
osteal
a
goatbelongi
ngtoPAAMENSAHv aluedatGH¢50. 00.

COUNTTWO

STATEMENTOFOFFENCE

POSSESSIONOFI NSTRUMENTADAPTEDFORUNLAWFULENTRYcont
rar
ytosect
ion
154oftheCri
minalOf
fencesAct
,1960,
Act29.

PARTI
CULARSOFOFFENCES

1.BOBLI
TTLE,
car
pent
er

2.Onoraboutt he15th dayofNovember

,2014inKumasiintheAshant
iRegi
onand
wit
hinthejur
isdi
cti
onoft hi
sCour
thadinyourpossessi
onacr
owbarwhichwasused
tofaci
l
itat
etheopeningofagoatpenofPAAMENSAH.

31|
Page
 COUNTTHREE

STATEMENTOFOFFENCE

UNLAWFULENTRYint
othegoatpencont
rar
ytosect
ion152oft
heCr
imi
nalOf
fences
Act
,1960,
Act29.

PARTI
CULARSOFOFFENCES

1.TOM KRUGA,
unempl
oyedandBOBLI
TTLE,
Car
pent
er

2.Onoraboutthe15th dayofNovember
,2014i
nKumasii
ntheAshantiRegi
onand
wit
hint
hejur
isdi
cti
onoft hi
sCourtunl
awful
l
yent
eredt
hegoatpenbel
ongingtoPAA
MENSAH.

COUNTFOUR

STATEMENTOFOFFENCE

DISHONESTLYRECEI
VINGcont
rar
ytosect
ion146oft
heCr
imi
nalOf
fencesAct
,1960,
Act29.

PARTI
CULARSOFOFFENCE

1.JOHNNAT,
chopbarkeeper

2.Onoraboutthe15th dayofNovember
,2014i
nKumasii ntheAshant
iRegi
onand
wit
hint
hejur
isdi
cti
onoft hi
sCour
tdidr
ecei
veast
olengoatbel
ongi
ngtoPAAMENSAH
val
uedatGH¢50.00.

COUNTFI
VE

STATEMENTOFOFFENCE

ASSAULTcont
rar
ytosect
ion84oft
heCr
imi
nal
Off
encesAct
,1960,
Act29.

PARTI
CULARSOFOFFENCE

1.TOM KRUGA,
unempl
oyed

2.Onoraboutthe15th ofNovember,2014i
nKumasii
ntheAshant
iRegi
onandwit
hin
thejur
isdi
cti
onofthi
sCour tdidassaul
tPAAMENSAHbyknockinghim downi
nyour
att
emptt ost
eal
from hi
sgoatpen.

COUNTSI
X

STATEMENTOFOFFENCE

32|
Page
DECEI
TOFAPUBLI
COFFI
CERcont
rar
ytosect
ion251oft
heCr
imi
nalOf
fencesAct
,
1960,
Act29.

PARTI
CULARSOFOFFENCE

1.TOM KRUGA,
unempl
oyed

2.Onoraboutt he15th dayofNovember

,2014inKumasii
ntheAshant
iRegi
onand
wit
hint
hejuri
sdict
ionoft hi
sCour
tdidatt
empttodecei
veaPol
iceOf
fi
cerwhengi
vi
ng
st
atementaf
terbeenarrested.

DATED ATTHEATTORNEYGENERAL’
SDEPARTMENT,KUMASI S21ST DAYOF
.THI
DECEMBER,
2014.

SNG

JONATHANMENSAH

PROSECUTI
NGATTORNEY

THEREGI
STRAR

CI
RCUI
TCOURT

KUMASI–ASHANTI
.

BAI
L

I
nt hecour seoft hetri
alofcases,thereareseveraloccasionswhent hecourtortr
ibunal
hast oconsiderappl i
cationsforbailandforv ari
ousot hersecuri
ties.Unlessotherwise
providedbyst atute,noappl i
cati
onf orbai
lincriminalproceedingsshoul dbemadeex
parte.Iti
sagai nstthepr i
ncipl
esofnat ur
aljusti
ceforsuchappl icationtobemadeand
heardexpar te.Thecour tortri
bunalshouldalwaysdirectthemot iont obeservedonthe
prosecutororper sonaffectedbecausebai lr
aisestheissueoft hel i
bertyofindi
vi
dual s.
I
tmayonl ybehear dexpar teift
heper sonservedfail
stoappear .

Def
ini
ti
on

Baili
sr eleasefr
om courtsubjecttoabondt oappearbef or
ethatcour
torsomeother
courtatt heti
meandpl acement ionedi
nt hebond:sees.96ofAct30.Inotherwords,
bai
li st heprocessofpr ocuri
ngt herel
easef rom legalcust
odyofaper sonbyan
undertakingorguarant
eet hatsuchaper sonwillappearorbeav ai
l
abl
eatsuchplace

33|
Page
andt
imespeci
fi
edi
nthebai
lbond.

Thepersonwhogivestheundert
akingisref
erredtoasthesur
ety.Theper
sonforwhom
theundert
aki
ngisgivenisthepri
ncipalpar
ty.Theundert
aki
ngiswhatisref
err
edtoas
thebai
lbondandit
’ssignedbyboththesuretyandthepri
nci
palpart
y.

Thebondconsi st
sofanumberofT&Cst hatmustbeobey edandt heper
sonwhogi ves
theundertaki
ngisnor
mal l
yboundbyanamountofmoneywhi chisusedassecurit
yfor
thebailbond.Thebondmaybewi thorwithoutsur
eties.I
fit
’swit
houtasurety,t
henit
wouldbesel f
-r
ecogni
sancebai
landthati
sont hepr
incipal
party
’sownrecogni
sance.

I
ncr
imi
nal
tri
als,
theoccasi
onswher
etheneedar
isest
oconsi
derbai
lar
edur
ingt
hef
f:

(
a)wher
ethet
ri
ali
spendi
ng

(
b)dur
ingt
hecour
seoft
het
ri
al

(
c)whi
l
etheappeal
ispendi
ng

Act30givesapr esumpti
oninfavourofbailexceptunderci
rcumst
ancesst at
edbelow.
I
tmustf i
rstbeemphasi sedthatrefusalofbai lshouldnotbeusedasapuni tiv
e
measure:sees.96( 4)ofAct30whi chpr ovi
dest hatacourtshallnotwithhol
dor
wit
hdraw bailmerelyasapunishment .Seealsopr esumpt
ionofinnocenceinArticl
e
19(
2).Grantofbaili
ssubj
ecttojudi
cialdi
scret
ion.

Gr
oundsf
orr
efusi
ngbai
l

Subst
ant
ivegr
oundsf
orbel
i
evi
ngt
hatt
heaccusedmay
:

 maynotappeart
ost
andt
ri
al(
fl
ightr
isk)

 i
nter
fer
ewi
thwi
tnessesorobst
ructt
hecour
seofj
ust
ice

 commi
tfur
therof
fencewhenonbai
l

 bai
lmayal sober ef
usedwheretheaccusedisal
legedtohav
ecommi t
tedan
off
encepunishabl
ebyimpr
isonmentexceedi
ngsi
xmont hswhi
leonbai
landhe
hasbeencharged.

Ot
hergr
ounds

 t
heaccusedcoul
dbekepti
ncust
odyf
orhi
sownpr
otect
ionorsaf
ety
.

 wher
etheaccusedi
sal
readyser
vingacust
odi
alsent
ence.

 wher
ether
eisi
nsuf
fi
cientt
imet
oobt
ainsuf
fi
cienti
nfor
mat
iont
omakeabai
l

34|
Page
 deci
sion.

 wher
eaccusedhasal
readyabscondedont
heof
fencechar
ged.

Fact
ors

Fact
orst
hatmaybeconsi
der
edi
ndet
ermi
ningwhet
heraccusedmayappeart
ost
and
tr
ial
:

- nat
ureandser
iousnessoft
heof
fenceandl
i
kel
ysent
ences

- st
rengt
hofev
idence

- bai
lrecor
d

- pl
aceofabodeandempl
oyment

- i
ndependence,
goodchar
act
erandt
hemeansofsur
eti
es

- anyot herr
elev
antmat
tersuch aschar
act
er,f
ami
l
yand communi
tyt
iesof
accused.

Non-
bai
l
abl
eof
fences

UnderAct30,s.96(
7)thecourtshal
lrefusetogr
antbailinacaseofact
soft er
ror
ism,
tr
eason,
subversi
on,murder
,robber
y,hi
jacki
ng,pi
racyorescapef
rom l
awfulcust
ody.

- Rape and defi

lement wereincl
uded under t
he Cr
imi
nalPr
ocedur
e Code
(Amendment)Act,2002,
Act633

- Nar
cot
ic of
fences were i
ncl
uded under t
he Cr
imi
nal Pr
ocedur
e Code
(
Amendment
)Act ,
2006,
Act714

Act30,
s.96(
7)andt
heConst
it
uti
on

Act30,
s.96(
1)hast
ober
eadt
oget
herwi
tht
he92Const
it
uti
on,
Art
icl
e14(
3)and(
4).

Bai
lappl
i
cat
ioni
nrel
ati
ont
onon-
bai
l
abl
eof
fences

Act30,
s.96(
7)i
snotacompl
eteoust
eroft
hej
uri
sdi
cti
onoft
hecour
ttogr
antbai
l
.Bai
l
maybegrant
edwher
e:

- Ther
eisanunr
easonabl
edel
ayi
nthepr
osecut
ionoft
hecase.

- Whent
hef
act
sdonotsuppor
tthechar
ge.

- Medi
cal
grounds

35|
Page
Unr
easonabl
edel
ay

Aper sonchargedwithanof fencei

sentit
ledtobetri
edwi t
hinareasonabl
eti
me.What
constit
utesunreasonabl
edel aydependson t hecir
cumstancesofeach case.See
Gyekyev.TheRepubl i
c[ 1971]2GLR 280,t hecourtheldthattherehadbeenan
unreasonabl
edelayandgr antedbailt
oper sonschargedwithmur derwhohadbeen
arr
ested…

nDogbev
I .TheRepubl
ic[
1976]2GLR96-
97,
Tay
lorJhel
dthatadel
ayofni
nemont
hsi
n
amur
dert
ri
alwasnotunr
easonabl
e.

Fact
sdonotsuppor
tthechar
ge

Bai
lmayalsobegrantedina‘non-bai
l
abl
e’of
fencewherethefact
s/pi
ecesofevidence
donotsuppor
tthecharge.SeePrahv.TheRepubl
ic;Sei
duv.TheRepubli
c;Republi
cv.
Cr
ent
sil

Medi
cal
grounds

Anumberofauthori
ti
esignoredthepl
eaofi l
l
-heal
thinconsi
der
i .SeeDogbev
ngbai
l .
TheRepubl
i
c;Republ
icv.Art
hur;Abi
am v.TheRepubl
ic.

I
ll
-heal
thandol
dagewer
econsi
der
edor
bit nOkoev
eri .TheRepubl
i
c[1976]1GLR80.

I
nchoat
eof
fences

I
nchoat
eof f
encesar
enotincl
udedintheli
stof‘non-
bai
l
able’
offencesunders.96(
7).I
n
Abi
am v.TheRepubl
ic,
bai
lwasgrantedinthecaseofatt
emptedmur der
.

Bai
lpendi
ngappeal

Unders.96(1)
(a)ofAct30,apersonmaybegr ant
edbailaf
terconvi
cti
onpendi
ngan
appeal.Unl
i
keinbai
lpendingtr
ial
,theaccusedwouldhav
ebeent ri
edandconvi
ctedof
anoffencebyacourtofcompet
entjuri
sdi
cti
on.

I
t’
sanappl icat
ionmadebyanaccusedper sonafterhisconvi
cti
onandpendi ngan
appealagainsttheconvi
cti
on.Bai
lpendingappealhasbeendescribedbythecourt
st o
bev er
yunusual .Thecourt
sarethusalwayscautioustograntbai
lpendinganappeal.
Thisisbecausebyt heti
meoft heappl
icati
on,theaccusedwouldhavebeenconv i
cted
ofanoffence.

Pr
ocedur
e
- Fil
eanot
iceofappeal
fir
st
- Maketheappli
cat
ionbymoti
onsuppor
tedbyaf
fi
dav
itwhyt
heper
sonmustbe

36|
Page
 gr
ant
edbai
l

Eventhoughther
eisaneedtoproceedwithcauti
onwhenconsider
ingbailaft
eracour
t
ofcompetentj
uri
sdi
cti
onhasconvictedaperson,
ther
earecir
cumst ancesunderwhi
ch
bai
lpendi
nganappealmaybegrant edbythecourt
s.Thesear
esetouti nFynn&Anov
TheRep[1971]2GLR433

i
. i fther ear eexceptionalorunusualgroundsf ortheappl i
cati
on;
ii
. i ftheconv i
cti
oni sprimaf aciewrongandt hereisal i
keli
hoodoft heappeal
succeedi ng;
i
ii
. i fit’sacasewher etheappellantoughtt obef reetoconf erwi thhiscounselin
ordert opr epar
ef ortheappeal;
i
v. i fhav ingr egardtot hesentence,t
here’
sgoi ngt obeaconsi derabledelayeitheri
n
prepar ing t he record ofappealorbecause oft he long v acat
ion and in
consequencet hehear ingoftheappeali sli
kelytobeundul ydelayedr esul
ti
ngin
theappel lantservingthewholeorsubst anti
alportionofhissent ence.
Theprincipleswer econfirmedbyt heSCi nRepubl i
cv.Regi str
arofHi ghCour t;Expart
e
Att
orney-Gener al.

MOTI
ONPAPER
I
NTHESUPERI
ORCOURTOFJUDI
CATURE
I
NTHEHI
GHCOURTOFJUSTI
CE
KUMASI
-ASHANTIREGI
ON
AD2015
CASENO:
……….

KWAMESAM APPLI
CANT
VRS
THEREPUBLI
C RESPONDENT

MOTI
ONONNOTI CEFORBAI
LPENDINGTRI
ALPURSUANTTOSECTION96OFTHE
CRI
MINALANDOTHEROFFENCESPROCEDUREACT,
1960(
ACT30)

TAKENOTI CEthatEBODANTSEBENJAMI NESQ;Lawy erfortheappl

icanther
einwi l
l
movethisHonourabl
eCourtforanorderf
orbailt
ot heappl
icantpendi
ngtri
alpursuant
tosect
ion96oftheCr i
minalandot
herOffencesProcedur
eAct ,1960(
ACT30)pert he

37|
Page
accompany
ingaf
fi
dav
itandannexur
es.
ANDf
oranyf
urt
heror
der
(s)ast
hisHonour
abl
eCour
tmaydeem f
it
.
COURTTOBEMOVEDONt he8December2015at9Oclocki
nthef
orenoonorsosoon
ther
eaf
terast
hel
awy
erf
ortheappl
i
cantmaybehear
d.
DATEDATEL-
SHADAI&PARTNERS,
BREMANG, S5TH DAYOFDECEMBER
KUMASITHI
2015.

……………SGN.
..
…………………….
.
(
EBODANTSEBENJAMI
NESQ)
(
LAWYERFORAPPLI
CANT)
CHAMBERREG.NO.
SOLI
CITORSLI
CENSENO:
102472
THEREGI
STRAR
HI
GHCOURT
KUMASI
,ASHANTI
ANDCOPYFORSERVI
CEONTHEATTORNEYGENERAL’
SDEPARTMENT,KUMASI
.

AFFI
DAVI
TINSUPPORT
I
NTHESUPERI
ORCOURTOFJUDI
CATURE
I
NTHEHI
GHCOURTOFJUSTI
CE
KUMASI
-ASHANTIREGI
ON
AD2015
CASENO:
……….

KWAMESAM APPLI
CANT
VRS
THEREPUBLI
C RESPONDENT

38|
Page
 AFFI
DAVI
TSI
NSUPPORTOFMOTIONONNOTI CEFORBAI
LPENDINGTRI
AL
PURSUANTTOSECTI
ON96OFTHECRIMINALANDOTHEROFFENCESPROCEDURE
ACT,1960(ACT30)

I
,OPANINKOFISAM OFDSK37ASUOYEBOAHi
ntheAshant
iRegi
onoft
heRepubl
i
cof
GhanaDOHEREBYMAKEANOATHandsayasfoll
ows:
1.ThatIhav
et heconsentoft
heappl
i
cantwhoi
sincust
odyt
osweart
othecont
ent
ofthi
saff
idavi
t.
2.ThatIam t
hedeponenther
ein.
3.ThatIdeposetothi
saff
idaviti
nthest
eadoftheAppl
icantasmat
ter
sher
einar
e
wit
hinmyper sonal
knowledgeandtheAppl
i
canthimself
.
4.Thatt
heAppl
i
canti
smyson.
5.Thattheappl
i
canthasbeenchargedwi
ththeoff
enceofAssaul
tcont
rar
yto
sect
ion54oftheCri
minalOf
fencesAct
,1960(Act29)
6.Thatt
heAppl
i
canthaspl
eadednotgui
l
tyt
othechar
ge.
7.ThatIhav
ebeenadv i
sedbyCounsel
andv er
il
ybeli
evesametobet
ruet
hatt
he
off
enceofAssaul
tisnotaser
iousof
fenceandtheref
orebai
l
abl
e.
8.ThatIam pr
epar
edt
ost
andi
nforhi
m assur
ety
.
9.ThatIhavel
andedpr
oper
tyi
nKumasi
andaf
ixedpl
aceofabodeatAsuoy
eboah,
Kumasi.
10.
Thatattheappr
opri
atet
ime,Iwil
lensur
ethatt
heAppl
i
cantappear
sbef
oret
he
appropr
iat
ecourtt
odefendhimself
.
11.
ThatIatt
achtothi
saffi
davi
tacopyofthechargesheetandt
herecor
dof
proceedi
ngsofthecour
tbelowonthedaytheAppli
cantwastakeni
ntocust
ody
whicharemarkedasexhibi
tsAandBrespecti
vel
y.
12.
ThatIhumblypr
aythatt
heAppl
i
cantber
eleasedpendi
ngt
het
ri
alatt
he
appropr
iat
ecour
t.
WHEREFOREIsweart
othi
saf
fi
dav
iti
nsuppor
toft
hemot
ion.
SWORNATKUMASITHI
S4TH
DAYOFDECEMBER2015.

…………SGN…………………
(
DEPONENTHEREI
N)

39|
Page
BEFOREME
………………….
COMMI
SSI
ONERFOROATH.

CONDUCTOFTRI
AL

SUMMARYOFTRI
AL

Allcri
minaltrial
sint heDC aresummar ytr
ial
s.Summarytri
alisat erm used i
n
contr
adist
inct
iontotri
alsoni
ndict
ment.Asummarytr
iali
ntheDCconnotesatri
albya
si
nglemagi st
ratesit
ti
ngalone.A summarytr
ialint
heJC isconduct
edbyasi ngl
e
Magistr
ateorChairmanwhositswitht
wopanelmembers.

Insummarytri
al,allquest
ionsoflaw andfact
saredet
ermi
neddirect
lyandi
nopen
cour
tbytheMagi st
ratesi
tt
ingal
oneintheDC,orbytheMagi
str
ateorChai
rmanjoi
ntl
y
wit
hthepanel
member swhositwit
hhimi nt
heJC.

Commencementoft
heTr
ial
:Readi
ngoft
heChar
ge

Cri
minalproceedingsi ntheDCcommencewi ththereadingfrom thechargesheetof
thechargepreferredagainsttheaccusedper son.Iti
st hecourtclerkwhor eadsthe
char
geoutt otheaccusedaf tertheaccusedhasent eredthedock.Wher etheaccused
doesnotunderstandt heEngli
shlanguage,thecourti
nter
preterwil
ltransl
atet
hecharge
i
ntoanylanguaget hattheaccusedwillunderst
and.

Thef ullt
ri
alofacasecompr i
sest
hetaki
ngofev i
dence-i
n-chi
efofwit
nessesforthe
prosecuti
on (i
ncl
uding exhibi
ts)aswellast hoseoft heaccused hi
mselfand his
witnesses,cr
ossexami nationonsuchev i
dence-i
n-chi
ef,r
e-exami
nati
ononmat t
ers
ari
singoutofcross-
exami nati
onandaddr
esses.

ThePl
eas

Whent
hepl
eai
stobet
aken

Afterthechargehasbeenr eadandexplai
nedt otheaccused,hi
spl
eamustalwaysbe
taken,exceptincommi t
talproceedi
ngsorproceedi
ngsfortheremandoftheaccused
tobet ri
edinanothercourt
.Whenev ert
hechargeisamendedorsubsti
tut
edwit
hanew
one,theaccusedshouldbeinv i
tedtopl
eadtothenewcharge.

Criminalprosecut
ionsareconduct
edagai
nstt
heaccusedper sonal
l
y.Ther
efor
e,i
fheis
presentincour t
,thepleashouldbegi
venbyhim personal
lyandnotbyhi sl
awyeror
anyoneel se.Thepleashoul
dalwaysberecor
dedi
nt herecordbook.Thetaki
ngofthe

40|
Page
pleamustpr ecedether ecor
dingoft hef act
soft hecase:Chi di
av.TheRepubl i
c
(Pract
iceNotes)[1978]GLR81.InMensuov .TheRepubli
c,i
twashel dt
hattheabsence
ofav al
idpleabeingt akenfrom theaccusedi naccordancewi t
hAct30,s.171( 1)
rendersthewhol et r
ialnullandv oi
d.Int hatcase,theaccusedwaschar gedwith
contemptofcour tandwasconv ict
edwithoutanypleabeingtakenorbeingrecor
dedin
therecordbook.

Pl
easopent
otheaccused

Broadl
y,t
herearethr
eemainopti
onswhichmaybeconsi
der
edasopent
otheaccused
asfaraspleasar
econcer
ned.Thesear
e:

(
i) pl
eaofnotgui
l
ty;

(
ii
) pl
eaofgui
l
ty;
and

(
ii
i) r
efusal
orf
ail
uret
opl
ead.

Ref
usal
orf
ail
uret
opl
ead

Anaccusedper sonmayr efuset opleadspecif

ical
l
ytothechar geunderanumberof
cir
cumst ancesint heDC,t hecommonestoft heseareautrefoisacquitoraut
ref
ois
convictorapl eaofwantofj uri
sdi
cti
on.Theaccusedmayr efusetopl eadbyar
guing
thathehasbeenchar ged,t
riedandconv i
ctedoracqui
tt
edonsi mil
arfactsort
hesame
factsandt her
eforecannotber et
ri
edbyreasonofs.113,Act30.

Thecour tbef
orewhi chsuchanar gumentismademusti nvestigat
et heprevioust ri
alto
determineitsrel
ationshipwi ththeonebef or ei t
.Proofoft hepr evioustri
ali sbya
certi
fi
edt r
uecopyofanext ractoft heconvi
ct ionoracquittal,oranext ractf r
om t he
pri
son wher eheser vedhissent ence,aswel lasev i
denceofi dentit
yconnect ingt he
suspectont ri
alt
ot heconvicti
onoracqui tt
alori mprisonment :s.117.Fort het estin
determini
ngwhethert hepl
eaofaut refoi
sacqui torautref
oisconv i
cti ssustainable,see
Boniv.TheRepublic, CAandRepubl icv.GeneralCourtMar ti
al;ExPar teMensah, CA.

Secondly
,theaccusedmayref
usetopleadspeci
fi
cal
lytothechargebutar
guet
hatt
he
courtbef
orewhichhehasbeenar
rai
gnedhasnojuri
sdict
iontotr
yhim.

Thet hi
rdsi t
uati
onofr ef
usalorfai
luretopleadmayoccurwhent heaccusedstands
mut eaftert
hechar gehasbeenexpl
ainedtohim orbehavesinsuchawayast ogi
vethe
i
mpr ession thathe i sincapabl
e of maki ng his defence or under
standi
ng the
proceedings.Insuchacase,thetri
almagist
r at
ehast oinvest
igatehi
sment alst
ateto
determinewhet hertheaccusedisfittopl
eadormakehi sdefenceorismut eoutof
malice.
41|
Page
Pl
eaofgui
l
ty

Agenuinepl eaofgui l
tytoachar
gei ssaidtoamounttoaj udicialconfessiontohaving
commi t
tedt heof fence.Suchapl eaobv iat
esthenecessit
yf orat ri
alorpr oofoft he
char
gebyt hepr osecut i
on.Thepl
eaofgui l
tymaybeunr eservedanduncondi t
ional
.It
may,ont heot herhand,bemadesubj ecttowhattheaccusedper sonmaychooset o
addtohispl ea.Acommonpl eawhichoneof t
enmeetsint heDCi soneof“ guil
tywith
expl
anation”.Thishasbeenr i
ght
lyinterpr
etedinCr
iminalProcedur einGhanabyA. N.E
Amissah,thus:“…of tenanaccusedpl eadsthathei
s‘guil
tywi t
hexpl anation’
.Thismay
actuall
ymeanapleaofnotgui
l
tywhentheexpl
anat
ioncomesoutori
tmayonlymean
thattheaccusedi
sinfactgui
l
tybuthassomethi
ngtosaytowardst
hemiti
gati
onof
punishment”
.

Whenaper sonischargedwithanoffence,hemaypl eadguil

tysimpli
cit
erormayplead
guil
tybutmayaccompanyt hepleawithsuchwor dsashemaychoose.Nol awforbi
ds
theaccusedfrom addi
nganywordstohi splea.Hemayplead“ gui
ltywit
hanexcuse”,
or
“gui
lt
y subjectto some conditi
ons”or“ gui
l
ty wit
hr eservat
ion”,or“guil
ty wi
th
expl
anati
on”,oranysuchl
ikeexpr
essi
on.

Whenev eran accused per son adds anywor ds to his pl ea ofguilty

,itbecomes
i
mper at
ivethatthet ri
almagi st
ratetakespai nst orecordint heproceedingswhat everhe
wishest osaybywayofexcuse,r eser
v at
ion,explanationet c.Thisi sbecauset hat
recordwi llr
ev ealwhet hertheaccusedi sgenui nel
ygui lt
ybutpl eadsinmi t
igati
onof
punishmentorwoul dwantt oinf or
mt hecour tthathei snotgui ltybutforsomel egall
y
unaccept abl
er easonhepl eadst hathei sgui l
ty.Inthelat t
erev ent,apleaofnotgui lt
y
shouldbeent eredf orhim sothatt hecasewi llbetri
ed.I nt heformercase,thereisno
reasonwhyheshoul dnotbeconv icted“ onhisownpl ea”ifwhatheaddsconf i
rmshi s
guil
tormakesnochanget othef actthathei sguilty.Ifwhatheaddsamount sto
mitigati
onofsent ence,heisst i
llguiltyandcanbeconv i
ctedonhi sownpl ea,
butt hose
pointsmaybedul yconsi deredwheni mposingthesent ence.

A pleaofgui l
tyistobeconsi deredaspr imaf aci
econfessi
onofguiltunlessthat
presumptionisrebut
tedbyexpl
anationgivenaft
erthepl
eahasbeenentered.Thecourt
hast hedutytoalwaysexaminethepl eaofguil
tyandshouldnotconv
ictifthepleais
notwar r
antedbythechargeoraccused’sexpl
anati
on.

Pl
eaofnotgui
l
ty

Thisisobv iouslyenteredwhent heaccuseddeni esli

abi
l
ityf
orthecharge.Thecasewill
ther
eafterpr oceedtot ri
al.I
tisnotalwayseasytodr awtheli
nebetweenapl eaofgui
lt
y
simpli
citerandonecapabl eofbeingconsideredasamount ingtoapleaofnotgui l
ty.
Whereapl eaofgui l
tyisnegat i
vebyexplanat
ion, t
hecourti
sdutyboundtoent erapl
ea
ofnotgui l
tyf ortheaccusedandpr oceedtotrythecase.

42|
Page
Attentionshoul dbepai dtos.199( 4)
,Act30whi chwasexpl ainedi nRepubl i
cv.Br i
ght
[
1974]2GLR12t omeant hatwhenev eranaccusedpl eadsgui ltytoachar gebutadds
wor dsi nexpl anat i
oni ndi
catingt hathemi ghthav eadef encet ot heof f
encechar ged,
thet r
ialcour tisunderobl igationt oenterapleaofnotgui ltyonhi sbehalffort hecase
tobecont estedoni tsmer i
ts.Bys.199( 4),t
her ecordshoul dbeexpl i
citthatt hepl ea
wasent eredbyor derofthecour t.ThecaseofZabr ama( Alpha)v.TheRepubl icwhi ch
dealsdi rectlywi thapleaofgui l
tycoupledwi t
hwor dsi nexpl anationwhichindi catedan
i
nt enti
ont opl eadnotgui lt
y.I thasbeenhel dinDakur uguv.TheRepubl i
ct hatbef ore
recordinghi spleaandconv ictingt heaccusedont hebasi sofhi sguilt
ypl ea,t hetrial
magi stratehast oensur ethatt hegui l
typleawas,i nterali
a,v oluntaryandint ell
igentin
thesenset hatt heaccusedknew hi sri
ghts,thenat ureoft hechar get owhi chhewas
pleadingandt hatt herewasaf actualbasisfortheplea.

Ithasbeenhel dinKwakuv .TheRepubl i

cthatitdoesnotmat terfr
om whatsour ce
comest hei ndicati
ont hattheaccusedmayhav eadef ence.Ev enifthei ndication
comesf rom t hef actsgivenbyt heprosecuti
on,t
hecour ti sdutyboundt oi nquir
ei nto
thepleaofgui l
tyannouncedbyt heaccusedandi fwar r
ant ed,ent
erapl eaofnotgui lt
y
forhim.I nt hatcase,t hepr osecuti
on,ingiv
ingthef actsoft hecase,addedt hatt he
accusedhadaddedi nhi sstatementt othepoli
cet hatheboughtt hegoodswi thout
knowingt hatt heyhadbeenst olen.Hewasconv ictedonhi sownpl eaonachar geof
recei
vingst olenpr opert
y .Onappeal,itwasheldt hatapl eaofnotgui ltyshouldhav e
beenenter edbyt het r
ialcour
tbecauseoft hestat
ementhegav etothepolice.

Casef
ort
hePr
osecut
ion/Recor
dofPr
osecut
or’
sfact
s

Afterthepl eaoft heaccusedhasbeent aken,thenextessentialrequir

ementi nt hetrial
i
st hatt hefactsav ai
labl
et othepr osecut i
onwi thwhichtheyintendt oprovet hechar ge
mustber ecorded.InTet tehAsamadeyal i
asOsagyef ov.COP,i twashel dt hatitis
i
ncumbentupont het ri
alMagi stratetor ecordt hefactsnar r
atedbyt hepr osecution
aftertheaccusedhaspl eadedgui l
tybecausehet akesintoconsiderati
ont hosef actsin
i
mposi ngsent ence.Int hatcase,t heaccusedper sonspl eadedgui l
tyt ot hechar ges
againstt hem andt heywer econv i
ctedbutt her ewasnor ecordoft hefactsgi v enbyt he
prosecut i
onbef oretheywer esent enced.Int hatsamecaset hecour theldf urtherthata
conv i
ctedper sonwhohaspl eadedgui lt
yt oachar geisent it
ledt oappealagai nst
sentenceandt heappellatecour tcanonl ydealf ai
rlywithsuchanappeali ft hefacts
takenint oconsiderati
oni npassingsent encewer erecorded.

Theneedt orecordtheprosecut
or’sf
actsonapleaofgui l
tywasemphasi sedinDom v .
TheRepubl i
c( Pr
acticeDir
ecti
on).InChidi
av.TheRepubl i
c(Practi
ceNot e),t
hetrial
courtafterhearing the plea ofthe accused convict
ed him before heari
ng the
prosecut
or’
sf act
s.Onappeal ,i
twashel dthatt
hepr ocedurewaswr ongbecauset he
court’
sdutyi stof indoutwhet herther
ear efactswhi chjust
ifyconvicti
onbefore

43|
Page
ent
eri
ngaconv
ict
ion.

Ev
idence-
in-
Chi
ef

Thewi tnessfort hepr osecuti

onwi l
lgivehistest
imony–r ef
erredtoasexami nati
on-i
n-
chief
.Nor mall
ybef oreawi tnessistakentocourt,theprosecutionwillhaveconference
withthewi t
nessi nor dert oknow whatt hewi tnessisgoi ngt ot alkabout.Int he
examination-
in-chief,thewitnesswil
l i
denti
fyhimselfi.
e.name, address,occupati
on,etc.
Thepr osecuti
onwi llthenleadt hewitnesstogivet est
imonyont hemat terswhichhe
knowsaboutt hecase.

Thepr osecut
orshallnotaska leadi
ng quest
ion oraska quest
ion t
o whi
ch t
he
prosecut
ordoesnotknowtheanswer.

Cr
oss-
Exami
nat
ion

Cross-exami
nati
onofthewitnessisdonebyt heaccusedorhi
scounsel–s.172( 2),Act
30.Notal lwit
nessesneedt obecr oss-
examined.It
’simport
anttonotewhet hert he
witnesshassaidanyt
hingagainsttheaccusedormadeanyi mpressi
onont hejudgeor
j
ury .I
ftheevi
dencedoesn’
ttouchtheaccused,thewit
nessneednotbecross-examined.

Ther
ear
etwosi
desofcr
oss-
exami
nat
ion:

a. Cr
oss-
exami
nat
ionont
het
est
imonyoft
hewi
tness

b. Cr
oss-
exami
nat
ionast
othechar
act
eroft
hewi
tness

Cross-
examinat
ionmustbeai medateit
herdi
scredi
ti
ngt hewit
nessorhist
est
imony
.
Thewitness’
charact
ermustnotbeat
tackedi
fit
’snotsupport
edbyproof
.

Re-
exami
nat
ion

I
t’
sdonebythepart
ythatl
edtheevi
dence.I
t’
snotautomaticandisrest
ri
cti
ve.I
t’
snota
ti
metoleadfreshevi
denceorfi
lli
ngaps.Thepur poseofr e-
examinat
ionistoclear
ambi
gui
ti
esthathavecomeaboutasaresul
tofthecross-
examinati
on.

Normal lythelastwit
nessforthepr osecuti
onistheinvest
igat
orwhot endersal lthe
statement s.Ther
eisnohardandf astr ul
eaboutthi
sthough.Theinvestigatortenders
thei nvesti
gati
oncauti
onstatementbecausehei stheonewhopr eparesi t
.Ifit’
snot
objectedt o,i
twil
lbeadmitt
edbutcounself ort
heaccusedcanobjectt ot hetendering
ofthei nvesti
gati
oncaut
ionstat
ement .Theexhi
bit
softheprosecut
ionar enumber edA,
B,C,…

I
fther
eisanobject
ion,counselwil
lrai
setheobj
ecti
on,givereasonsf
ort
heobj
ect
ion,
pr
osecut
ionwi
l
lrespond,andthejudgewil
lrul
eontheobject
ion.

44|
Page
Afterthelastwi
tnessf ort
heprosecut
ion,t
hepr
osecut
ionwi
l
lcl
osei
tscase.Nor
mal
l
y
theprosecuti
onwillannouncei
ttothecourt
.

Submi
ssi
onofnocase(
s.173)

Afterthecl
oseofthepr
osecut
ion’
scase,thecourtwi
l
lhavet
odeci
dewhet
herapri
ma
faciecasehasbeenmadesuffici
ent
lyagainstt
heaccusedt
owarr
antt
heaccusedto
makeadef ence.

Thesubmissi
onofnocasecanbedoneonanappl
icat
ionbycounself
ort
heaccusedor
bythej
udgesuomotu.I
t’
sanint
erl
ocut
oryappl
i
cat
ion.

Apal
oov.TheRep…onwher
eaPW hasbeendi
scr
edi
ted

Tsat
suTsi
kat
av.Repcaseonsubmi
ssi
onofnocase

COPv.Akot
ojudgedi
dn’
tal
l
ow pr
osecut
iont
orepl
ytosubmi
ssi
onofnocaseandi
t
wassaidthatthelawdoesn’
trequi
rear esponsefr
om t
heprosecut
ion.Thi
spr
inci
pleis
howevernotfoll
owedi npr
acti
ce.Prosecutorsnormal
l
yrel
yons132ofAct30whi ch
deal
swithri
ghtofr epl
y.

St
atev.Al
iKassena

Def
ence

I
ft hesubmissionofnocasei sdismi
ssed,orifthejudgesuomot udeci
desthatt
he
accusedhasacaset oanswer,thecour
twi l
lcal
lupont heaccusedper
sontoopenhi
s
defence–s174,Act30.Inopeninghisdefence,anaccusedpersonhas3opti
onsand
thecourtwi
l
l havet
omaket heseknowntotheaccusedper son:

1. Hecanr
emai
nsi
l
ent
.

2. Hecanmakeast atementfr
om thedock.Whent
heaccusedmakesanunswor
n
st
atementf
rom t
hedock,hecannotbecross-
exami
nedbyt
heprosecut
ion.

3. Hewi
l
lgoi
ntot
hewi
tnessboxandt
est
if
yonoat
h.

Iftheaccusedper sonchoosest omakeadef encef r

om t hewi t
nessbox,hewi l
lbe
sworn and hi s counselwi l
llead him orhe wi llgive evidence-in-chi
efhimself.
Subsequently,t
heprosecuti
onwi l
lcr
oss-exami
nehim.Ther eaft
er,hislawy erwil
lhavea
ri
ghttore-examinehi m.Ift
heaccusedhasanywi t
nesses,theywillbecal l
edtotest
ify
onbehalfoft heaccused.Thewi t
nessesoftheaccusedwi llbenamedDW1,DW2,et c.
Ther ul
esast o evidence-
in-
chi
ef,cross-
examinat
ionandr e-
exami nationabov ewi l
l
applytothedef enceaswel l
.Whent heaccusedhascal l
edal lhiswi tnesses,hewi l
l
closehi
sdef ence.

45|
Page
Addr
esses(
s.175)

Afterthedef enceisclosed,thecour twil

lcallt
hepr osecuti
onandt hedef encet o
addresst hecourt
.Theaddr essisasummar yofthecaseandf orthepr osecution;i
t
compr i
sesar gumentswhyt hepr osecut
ionhasmadei tscasebey ondar easonable
doubtandur gesthecourttoconvi
cttheaccusedperson.Lawyerfortheaccusedwi l
ltr
y
toconv i
ncethecourtwhyshet hi
nksreasonabl
edoubthasbeenr aisediro(i
nr espectof)
theevidenceoftheprosecuti
onandwhyacasehasnotbeenmadeagai nsttheaccused.

I
npr acti
ce,i
ftheaccusedper soncall
sawi t
ness,t
heaccusedaddr
essesthecour
tfi
rst
fol
lowedbyt hepr osecut
ion.Wher etheaccusedper
sondoesnotcal lawit
ness,t
he
prosecuti
onaddressesthecour tf
ir
st.

I
npracti
ce,t
headdressesmaybewr
it
tenandf
il
edi
nsummar
ytr
ial
sal
thoughi
t’
s
r
equi
redtobepr
esentedor
all
y.

Aftertheaddr esses,t
hecour twil
ladj
ournt hecaseforjudgment.Secti
on177prov i
des
forhow t hecour twil
lmaket hedeci
sion.Thedecisionwi l
lberecordedi
nther ecord
bookt ogetherwiththereasons(whichi
st ypical
l
yprovidedforonaseparat
esheet).See:
Comf ort&Anov.TheRepubl ic.

Var
iancebet
weent
hechar
geandev
idencepr
ovi
ded(
s.176)

Wherethechargesareamended,theaccusedmustbecall
edupontopl
eadt
ot henew
char
ge.Wheret hechar
gehasanef fectontheevi
dence,awi
tnessmayberecal
led–
TogbeFit
iIVv.TheStat
e[1965]GLR33

Conv
ict
ionf
orof
fencesot
hert
hanchar
ged

Gener
all
y,per
sonscanbeconv
ict
edonlyforof
fencesf
orwhicht
heyhavebeencharged
bef
orethecourt.Ther
ear
ehowev eranumberofexcept
ionstothi
sgeneralpr
inci
ple.
Sees.
153t os.
161.

THEDEFENCEOFALI
BI(
Sect
ion131ofAct30)

I
npl
eadi
ngal
i
bi,
whatt
heaccusedper
sonwi
l
lbepl
eadi
ngi
sthathewasnotpr
esentat

46|
Page
thesceneofcri
meatal lbutwasatanotherplace.I
fthepersonchargedintendsto
pleadanal
ibi
,heshal
lgivenot
icet
otheprosecuti
onwit
hpart
icul
arsastothetimeand
placewher
ehewasatt heti
meandofwitnessesbywhom hei
ntendstoprovetheali
bi.

I
fiti sasummar ytr
ial,theaccusedmustgi vet hesedet
ail
sbeforet
hef ir
stwit
nessfor
thepr osecuti
oniscalledtotest
if
y .I
fitisatr
ialonindi
ctment,
theaccusedisrequi
redto
givethesedet ai
l
satt hecommi ttalproceedi
ngs.Thepoli
cewillt
heninvesti
gat
etheali
bi
tofindouti ft
heali
bicanbesuppor ted.

I
ftheaccused personmakest heappl i
cationatt hetimeoft ri
al,t
het r
ialwillbe
adj
our
nedt oenabl
ethepol i
cet
oinvest
igatet heal
i
bi.I
ftheaccusedpersonrefusesto
gi
veparti
cul
arsoftheali
bi,t
hecaseshallproceedbuthisev
idenceont heal
ibiwil
lnot
beadmissi
ble–s.131(4)
,Act30.

Thefail
ureofanalibidoesnotmeant hattheaccusedpersonshoul
dbeconvict
ed;i
t
doesnotshif
tthebur denoftheprosecuti
ontopr ovet
hecasebey ondareasonabl
e
doubt.Ift
heali
bisucceeds,i
tbecomesaquest i
onofevidenceandit
’supt
othejudge
tofi
ndoutift
hewitnessesaretel
l
ingt
het r
uth.

TRI
ALWI
THTHEAI
DOFASSESSORSANDWI
THAJURY

Thejuryi sabodyofor di
narymenandwomenwhoar eundert hedirecti
onofaj udget o
determinequest ionsoff act.Thej uryisthet ri
eroff actandnotl aw.Anyquest ionsof
l
awwi l
lbedet ermi nedbyt hej udge.Itispr ovi
dedbys. 205t hataper sonbet weent he
agesof25-60y earswhoi sr esidentinGhanaandcanunder standtheEngl i
shl anguage
shallbel i
ablet o serveasaj uror.Sect i
on207howev ergr antsexempt ioncer tain
categoriesofpeopl ef r
om ser vi
ngasj ur
or s.Amongsuchper sonsar ethePr esident,the
VicePr esident
,t heSpeakerandMPs;t heJust icesoft heSuper i
orCourtofJudi cat
ur e,
theJudgesandMagi str
atesoft helowercour ts,l
egalpr actiti
onersandot hercour t
offi
cers,medi calpr acti
ti
oners,phar macists,prisonofficers,offi
cersandmember sof
theAr medFor ces,publ icof f
icers,edit
or s,diplomaticandconsul arrepresent at
ives

47|
Page
amongot
her
sandot
herper
sonsexempt
edbyt
heCJ.

Thequal
i
ficat
ionsandex
empt
ionofj
uror
sal
soappl
i
est
oassessor
s.

A.DI
FFERENCES

1.Assessor
scannott
rycer
tai
nindi
ctabl
eof
fences

Anindict
abletri
alwit
ht heaidofassessorscannottryaper sonf oranof f
encethe
puni
shmentf orwhi
chisdeathorli
feimpri
sonment.Tr
ialwithjuryist heonl
ycourtt
hat
hasjuri
sdict
iontotr
ysuchcr i
minaloff
ences.I
tisprovidedbyAr ti
cle19(2)
(a)ofthe
Consti
tut
ion1992asfol
l aper
ows:“ sonchargedwit
hacr i
mi naloffenceshalli
nthecase
ofan of f ence ot
hert han hi
gh treason,t he punishmentf orwhich is death or
i
mpr isonmentf orl
if
e,shallbetr
iedbyaj udgeandj ury…”.Sect
ion245alsolimitsthe
tr
ialofoffencespunishabl
ebydeatht obet r
iedbyaj ury.I
tstat
es“tr
ial
sforal
loffences
punishabl
ebydeat hshallbewit
haj ury…”

2.For
mer
lyassessor
swer
emadeupofonl
ymen

Beforether
ecentamendmentofthelaw,assessorsweremadeupofonl ymenwhil
sta
j
urycanbecomposedofmenandwomendependi ngontheball
oti
ng.Thenewsecti
on
227(1)ofAct30whichtouchesonthequali
fi
cationofassessor
snowr aper
eads:“ son
betweentheagesof25and60year swhoi sresi
denti
nt heRepubli
candunder stands
theEngli
shlanguageisli
abl
etoserveasanassessorintrial
sonindi
ctmentofcr i
mi nal
case.
”HisLordshipA.
N.E.AmissahinhisbookCri
minalLawi nGhanadescri
bedt heold
posit
ionwhichexempt edwomenf rom serv
ingasassessor sas thediscri
minator y
quali
fi
cati
onofassessors.

3.Numberofassessor
sandj
ury

Sect
ion260(
1)ofAct30pr
ovi
desasf
oll …shal
ows“ lsel
ectf
rom per
sonssummonedt
o
actasassessor
sanumber,notbei
ngor
dinaryl
esst
hant
hree,thatt
heJusti
cethi
nksf i
t
toassi
sti
nthetri
al”I
nef
fectasmanyassessor
scanbeselect
edbyt heJust
iceexcept
thatt
heyshoul
dnotbelessthan3innumber
.Thisi
scontrar
yt oatri
alwi
thjur
ywhere
thenumberofj
uror
sisfixedat7bythepr
ovi
sionsofs.244ofAct30,whichr i
eads“n
casestr
iabl
ewi
thajur
ythetri
alshal
lbewi
thajur
yofsevenpersons”
.

4.Modeofsel
ect
ionofpanelmember
stosi
tonacase

Thesel ecti
onofthepanelinatrialwit
hassessor saccordingtot hetoneofthest at
ute
i
satt hediscret
ionofthepresidingJustice.Pers.260( 1)whi chstatesinterali
aas
foll
ows:“ t
hattheJusti
cethi
nksf ittoassi
stinthetri
al”.I
nef fect ,whil
stassessorsare
discret
ionari
lyappoi
ntedbythej udge,thejuror
sar eballotedf ors.246( 2)ofAct30
statesthat“whereajuryisrequired,t
heregistr
arorot herofficeroft hecour tshal
lin

48|
Page
opencour
tdr
awf
rom t
heboxbyl
otunt
ilt
her
equi
rednumberofj
uror
sappear
”.

5.Obj
ect
iont
opanelmember
s

I
nat ri
alwiththeaidofassessors,theaccusedpersonmustshow causefornot
want
inganypersonsel
ectedbytheJusti
cetoserveasanassessort
otr
yhi m.Hehas
nopr
ivi
legeofperempt
orychal
lenge.I
tispr
ovidedbys.260(
2)t aper
hat“ sonchar
ged
mayobj ecttoanassessorsoappoint
edandt heCourtshallrefusetoallow t
hat
assessortosi
tift
hegr
oundsf
orsuchobject
ionar
esubst
ant
ialandreasonabl
e”.

Ontheotherhand,i
nat ri
alwit
hj urytheaccusedcanchal l
engethr
eeballot
edjuror
s
wi
thoutgivi
ng anyreason whatsoever,known as“ perempt
orychall
enges”and as
pr
ovidedi
nteral
iabys.250ofAct30“ theaccusedpersonal
lyorbycounselshal
lbe
al
lowed t
o chall
engethr
eeofthejur
orsbywayofper empt
orychall
engewi t
hout
assi
gni
ng causes”.I
tis onl
yaf
terexhaust
ing t
he per
emptorychal
lenges t
hatan
accusedi
nat
ri
alwi
thaj
urymaychal
l
engef
orcause.

6.Put
ti
ngaccusedi
nchar
geofpanel

I
nt ri
alwi t
ht heaidofassessor s,theaccusedper sonisnotputi nchar geofthe
assessor
s.Theassessor sassistt heJusti
cetot rythecasehencet heyarenotputin
thei
rcharge.Inajur
yt r
ial
,howev er,i
tist
hej ur
ywhoact uall
ytryt
hecase.I
tisprovi
ded
pers.249ofActasf ol
lows:“thejurorswhoar etot r
yy ouareabouttobeswor n”
.Ina
trywit
haj ury,t
heaccusedi sputi nchargeoft hejury.Secti
on255ofAct30put sthe
accusedinchar geofthejury.Acour toffi
cerinformst hejuryofthechargeandthei
r
dutytotr
yt heaccused.Assessor sassuchcannotconv i
ctoracquitanaccusedasin
thecaseoft r
ial
byajury.

7.Choosi
ngoff
oreman

Intr
ialwi ththeaidofassessor s,noneamongstthem isgiventheprivi
l
eget ospeakor
askinfor mationont heirbehalf.Eachassessorasksi nf
ormationonhi sownbehal f
.
Howev eri nat r
ialwit
haj ury,s.253(2)ofAct30pr ovi
des“ whenthejuror
shavebeen
swornt heyshallappointoneoft hei
rnumbertobef oreman”.Thedutyoftheforemanin
ajurytrialisspeltoutins.254ofAct30as“ thef
oremanshal lpresi
deatthemeet i
ngs
ofthej
uryforconsi
derat
ionandaski
nfor
mat
ionf
rom t
hecour
tthati
srequi
redbyt
he
j
uryoranyofthejur
ors”
.

8.Tr
ialoff
actandl
aw

Intr
ial
swiththeaidofassessor
s,t
hepresi
dingj
udgedecidesal
lissuesoflawandf act
.
Theassessorsarej ustt
oassisthi
mt otrythecase.Wi t
htri
alswi t
hj ur
y,thereisa
sharedresponsi
bil
it
y-thejudgedeci
desquesti
onsofl aw whil
et hej urydecidesal
l
questi
onsoffact
.

49|
Page
9.St
ayi
ngandcont
inuat
ionofpr
oceedi
ngsi
ntheabsenceofapanelmember

Inatri
alwit
ht heaidofassessors,ifanassessorforsuffi
cientr
easoncannotat
t end
cour
tfortheremainderofthetri
al,thetri
alshallpr
oceedwithouthi
m.Itisonl
ywhen
twoormor eareprevent
edf r
om attendancethatproceedi
ngsshallbest
ayed.Sect i
on
262ofAct30pr ov
idesthat“whereinthecour seofatri
alwiththeai
dofassessors,at
anytimepr i
ortot hef
indi
nganassessorfr
om asuf
fi
cientcausei
spr
eventedf
rom
att
endingthroughoutt
het r
ial
,thet
ri
alshal
lpr
oceedwiththeaidoft
her emai
ning
assessor
s”.

Cont
rarytot
hesit
uati
onabove,i
najuryt
ri
alwher eonejur
orf
orsuff
ici
entcausecannot
par
ti
cipat
einthetr
ial
,thet
ri
alshal
lnotproceed.Pers.257(
1)“whereinacourseofa
tr
ial,atanytimepri
ortot
hedel i
veryofthever di
ct,aj ur
orfrom asuf fi
cientcausei s
preventedfr
om at
tendi
ngt
hroughoutthetri
al,orfr
om f urt
herattendanceatt heti
me,or
i
faj urori
sabsentandt hefurt
herattendanceoft hej ur
orcannotbei mmedi at
ely
enforced,t
hecourtmaypostponethetr
ialti
llthejurorcanat t
end,ifwithi
nr easonable
ti
me” .

10.Di
rect
ionsast
ofactandl
awi
nsummi
ngup

Whent hecaseonbothsidesisclosedandaddr
essesgiven,t
hej
udgeinat r
ialwit
h
assessor
ssumsup onlyt heevidenceoftheprosecut
ionand t
hedefencet othe
assessor
s.Sect
ion287(
1),Acct30st at
es“wheninacaset ri
edwit
hassessors,t
he
caseonbot hsidesiscl osed,theJusti
cemaysum upt heevidencefort heprosecuti
on
andt hedef ence”.Howev er,i
nat r
ialwit
haj ur
yt hejudgei stosum uponbot hthelaw
andtheev i
dence.Secti
on272, Act30provi
des“ wheninat rialbef
oreaj ury,t
hecaseon
bothsidei sclosed,theJust i
ceshall,i
fnecessary,sum upt helawandt heevidencein
thecase” .Decidedcasesseem t osuggestthattheJust i
cei nat r
ialwithassessorsin
part
icularsituat
ionscant ouchont helaw.Acasei npointistheSCdeci sioninAgy eman
andAnot herv.TheSt ate.

11.Modeofdel
i
ver
yofopi
nion/
ver
dict

I
nat ri
alwit
ht heai
dofassessors,t
heopi nionsoft heassessorsaredel
i
veredorall
yand
i
ndivi
duall
y.Secti
on264(1)provi
des“ t
heopi nionofeachassessorshallbegivenor al
ly,
andshallberecordedinwr i
ti
ngbyt hecour t”.Contrar
ytot heabove,i
naj ur
yt r
ialthe
deci
sionisdel i
ver
edcollecti
vel
ythrought heirforeman.Section281,Act30st ates
“whenthejuryhaveconsider
edtheirverdict,t
hef oremanshallinf
ormtheJusticewhat
thei
rverdi
ct,
orthattheywerenotunanimous” .

12.Bi
ndi
ngef
fectofopi
nion/
ver
dictdel
i
ver
ed

50|
Page
Theopi ni
onoft heassessor sisnotbindingont hepresidingjudgei natrialwi t
ht heaid
ofassessor s.Sect i
on264( 1)stateinterali
aasf ol
lows: butt
“ hedeci si
onshal lbevest ed
exclusivelyint hej ust
ice”.Fur therins.297( 2)states“ t
heJust i
ceshal lthengi ve
j
udgment ,andi nsodoi ngi snotboundt oconform witht heopinionsofassessor s,but
shallrecordsaper sonaljudgmenti nwrit
ing”.BannermanCJi nRepubl icv.Mai kankan
statedt hati
nat r
ialwit
ht heai dofassessor s,t
hejudgef i
nall
ydet erminest heissuesof
bothlawandf actandt hust het ri
alisinfactinessencebyt hejudgewhosej udgment
aloneconst itutest hedeci sionint hecase.Hest atedi nhi sjudgmenti nteral i
aas
foll
ows:“ atrialoni ndi
ctmentbyaJust i
cewi t
ht heaidofassessor sisi nf actandi n
essenceat r
ialbyt hepresidingjudge”.

I
nat rialwi t
hjury,
thever
dictofthejuryi
sbi ndi
ngont hepresidi
ngjudge.Section285(1)
,
Act30pr ovi
des“ whenthej ur
yi sunanimousi nt heiropini
on,thej usti
ceshallgive
j
udgmenti naccordancewi t
ht heverdict”
.Accordingt oA.N.E.Ami ssah,inhisbook
CriminalLawi nGhana,p. 146,t
hedi f
fer
encet hatexistbetweenthet womodesoft ri
al
aredictatedbyt henatur
eoft hetr
ibunalresponsi
bleforthedeterminationofthegui
ltin
respecti
vet ri
als.

B.SI
MILARI
TIES

1.Thet
woar
eal
ltr
ial
soni
ndi
ctment

Tri
alswiththeaidofassessor sandwi t
hj ur
yareallcr
imi
nalt
ri
alsonindi
ctment
.
Secti
on204,Act30st at
es:“t
rial
soni ndi
ctmentshal
lbebyajur
yorwiththeaidof
assessor
sinaccor
dancewiththeAct”
.

2.Lowercour
tscannott
ryanyoft
het
wot
ypesofi
ndi
ctment

WiththenewCourtsActwhichforbi
dstheCir
cui
tCourtf
rom handli
ngindi
ctablecases,
i
tisonlyasuper
iorcour
tthatcanhandl
eanyofthetwotypesoftr
ial
s.Sect
ion43oft he
Court
sAct,1993,Act459statesasfol
lows:“aCi
rcui
tCourthasorigi
nalj
urisdi
cti
onin
al
lcri
minalmatt
ersothert
hant
reason,of
fencest
ri
abl
eoni
ndi
ctmentandof
fences
puni
shabl
ebydeath”
.

3.Choi
ceorqual
i
ficat
ionofassessor
sandj
uror
s

Thechoiceorquali
fi
cat
ionforbot
histhesameunl ikeundertheol
dlawwherefemales
werelegal
lybannedfr
om servi
ngasassessors.Secti
on277(1)ofActwhichdeal
swith
thequali
fi
cat
ionofassessor
sstat
esasf ol
lows:“apersonbetweentheagesoftwenty-
fi
veand sixt
yyearswho i sresi
dentintheRepublicand underst
andstheEngl i
sh
l
anguageisliabl
etoserveasanassessorintri
alsoni ndi
ctmentofcri
minalcases”.
Sect
ion205,Act30stat
esasfoll
ows:subj
“ ecttoss.207and208,apersonbetweenthe
agesoftwenty-
fi
veandsixt
yyearswhoisresi
dentintheRepubli
candcanunderstand

51|
Page
t
heEngl
i
shl
anguagei
sli
abl
etoser
veasaj
uror
”.

4.Puni
shmentf
ornon-
att
endanceandexempt
ionf
rom ser
vicef
orbot
hassessor
sand
j
uror
sar
ethesame

Whenassessor
sandjuror
sf ailt
o att
endcourtf
orno just
ifi
abl
er eason,theyare
puni
shedi
nthesamemanner.Sect
ion230,
Act30st
atest
hat:t
“heprovi
sionsofss.222,
223and224rel
atingtopuni
shmentfornon-at
tendanceofjurorsands.226r
elat
ingt
o
exempt
ionf
rom servi
ceshal
lappl
ytoassessor
sast heyapplytojur
ors”
.

5.Summi
ngup

I
nbot hcases,thepr
esi
dingj
udgeisrequi
redtosum uptotheassessorsorjur
ors.
Sect
ion287(1)
,Act30st
atesi
nteral
i
a“wheninacaset
riedwi
thassessor
sthecaseon
bot
hsidesi sclosed,t
heJusti
cemaysum upt heevidencefort
heprosecut
ionandthe
def
ence”.Whiles.277statesasfoll
ows:“wheninat ri
albef
oreajur
y,thecaseonboth
si
desisclosed,theJusti
ceshal
l,
ifnecessar
y,sum upthelawandevi
denceinthecase”
.

Thus,
summi
ngupi
scommont
othet
wopr
ocedur
es.

6.Omi
ssi
ont
oaskt
heaccusedi
fhehasanyt
hingt
osaywhysent
enceshoul
dnotbe
passedonhi
m af
fect
sval
i
dit
yofbot
hpr
oceedi
ngs

Aft
erconv i
cti
onthecourtinbothatri
alwiththeaidofassessor
sandjuryisboundt o
enquir
ef r
om theaccusedifhehasany t
hingt osaywhyheshoul dnotbesentenced.
Fai
luretodot hi
sisf
ataltotheval
idi
tyofbothproceedi
ngs.Sect
ion288,Act30states
asf ol
lows:“wherethejuryfindstheaccused guilt
yori ftheJusti
cesi t
ti
ng with
assessorsconvict
stheaccused,oriftheaccusedpleadsgui
lty,t
heRegi
strarorot
her
off
iceroftheCourtshallaskt
heaccusedwhet hert
heaccusedhasanythi
ngt osaywhy
sentenceshouldnotbepassedaccor dingtol
aw.Theomi ssi
onsot oasktheaccused
shallaf
fectt
hevalidi
tyofthepr
oceedings.”

52|
Page
 APPEALS

Thewell
-establ
i
shedpri
nci
pleunder
lyi
ngal
lappeal
si sthatappeali
sacr eat
ureof
st
atut
e.Thishasbeenexpl
ai nNy
nedi ev.Nyeasfol
lows:“t
herei
snoinher
entri
ghtof
appealinal i
ti
gant;norindeedist
hereaninher
entpowerinanycourtt
ohearappeal s.
Botht her i
ghtandt hepowerar ecreat
uresofstat
ute,andunlesstheenact ment
creat
ingt herightofappealandt hepowert ohearanappealisexplici
t,cl
earand
unambi guousinit
slanguage,nosuchri
ghtandnosuchpowercanevermateri
ali
ze”.

I
nthecaseofI
nreYendiSki
nAf
fai
rs;YakubuI
Iv.Abudul
ai,
itwashel
dt anappeal
hat“
i
sacreatur
eofst
atuteandi
fthest
atut
edi
dnotgi
vet
herightofappealthatwast
he
endofthemat
ter
”.InInreOki
ne,t
heCAdecl
i
nedtoheartheappealbroughtbyt
he
appel
l
antbecauset
her
ightt
oappeal
hadnotbeenconf
err
edbyanyst
atut
e.

Anyper sonaggri
evedbyanor derordeci
sionoftheDCmayappealagainsti
t.The
for
um toheartheappeali
ncri
minalcasei
stheHC.Act459,
s.21(
1)asamendedbyAct
620prov i
desthat“t
heprosecut
ionorapersonconvi
ctedofanoffencei
nacriminal
caset
riedbyaCCort ri
edbyaDCorJCmayappealt otheHC”.

Theprocedur eforappealisprovi
dedi nPartVII
IofAct30.Thi spar thasbeensubj ected
tosev er
alamendment s.Theappealagai nstasubst anti
vej udgmentori nterl
ocutory
ordershouldbef i
ll
edwi t
hinonemont hfrom t
hedayoft heor derorsent ence:s.325(1),
Act30.Theappealagai nstasubst antiv
ejudgmentori nter
locutoryor dershoul dbef i
led
withi
nonemont hfrom thedayoft heorderorsentence:s.325( 1).Leav eisr equi
redt o
appealagai nstan interl
ocutor
yor derin cri
minalcases oragai nsta r uli
ng on a
submissionofnocaseaf t
erthecloseoft hecaseforthepr osecuti
on: s.21(3),Act459.

Ext
ensi
onoft
imewi
thi
nwhi
cht
oappeal
incr
imi
nal
cases

Afterthestatutor
yonemont hperiod,aconvi
ctort heprosecutorshouldfi
leamot i
on
forleavetoappealoutoft i
me.Thati sasepar atemotiononnot icesupport
edbyan
aff
idavit
,clearl
ysett
ingoutthegroundsforseekingleaveofthecour tt
oappealoutof
ti
me.I tshouldbeaccompani edbyacopyoft hej udgmentoror derappeal
edagainst.
Untill
eavei ssought,t
her
eisnocompet entappeal( f
il
edoutoft ime)pendingincourt
whichmaybehear d.Theappli
cat
ionshouldbefi
ledintheHC: s.325,Act30.

Forthepur poseofdetermining whent o appeal,Amoahv .TheRepubl i

c dr
awsa
di
sti
ncti
onbet weenaconvict
ionwhi chisanul l
it
yandonewhi chisnot
.Inthefor
mer
si
tuat
ion,i
twashel di
nthatcaset hattheconvictedpersonshouldnotl
osetimewhen
consi
deri
ngt heti
mewithi
nwhi cht
oappeal.Thi sisbecausewheretheconvi
cti
onisa

53|
Page
null
it
y,theconvictisentit
ledexdebi
tojust
it
iaetosetasidet
heconv i
cti
onandsentence
atanyt i
me.Itwoul dhowev erappearthattheconvictwil
lstil
lf i
l
et hemoti
onf or
extensi
onoft i
mebef orethecourtcanconsiderwhet
herornottheconv i
cti
oni
sanulli
ty.
Themot i
onshoul dal way sbeheardinopencour t:seeCommi ssi
onerofPoli
cev.
Ighaghana,and,ideal
ly
, onnoti
ce.

Sect
ion326–Pet
it
ionofAppeal

(1)Ever
yappealshal
lbemadei
nthef
orm ofapet
it
ioni
nwr
it
ingpr
esent
edbyt
he
appel
l
antorhi
scounsel.

(2)Thepet
iti
onshallunl
esst heHighCour
tother
wisedi
rect
s,beaccompani
edbya
copyoft
hejudgmentororderappeal
edagai
nst
.

(3)Wher
etheappel
lanti
srepr
esentedbycounselt
hepet
it
ionshal
lcont
ainpar
ti
cul
ars
ofanyal
l
egeder
roroflaworoffactonwhi
chtheappel
l
antr
eli
es.

Sect
ion327-Appel
l
anti
nPr
ison

I
ft heappel
lantisinprison,hemaypr esenthispeti
ti
onofappealandthecopies
accompanyi
ngt hesamet ot heoff
iceri
nchar geofthepr
ison,whoshal
lther
eupon
for
wardsuchpetit
ionandcopiest
otheRegistr
aroftheHi
ghCourt.

Sect
ion328-Summar
yDi
smi
ssal
ofAppeal
.

(1)Onr ecei
vi
ngt hepet
it
ionandcopyundersect
ion326or327theHighCourtshal
l
peruseitandi fi
tconsi
dersthatt
her
eisnosuf fi
cientgr
oundf
ori
nterf
eri
ng,i
tmay
dismisstheappealsummari
ly
.

(2) Wheretheappell
antisnoti
ncust odynoappealshal
lbedismi
ssedunl
essthe
appel
lantorhi
scounselhashadareasonabl
eoppor
tuni
tyofbei
nghear
dinsuppor
tof
theappeal
.

(3)Wher
et he appell
antisin cust
ody,an appealshal
lnotbe di
smi
ssed unl
ess
appel
l
ant
’scounselhashadtheoppor
tuni
tyofbei
ngheard.

InMahamaduLagosv.Commi
ssi
onerofPol
ice,t
heappel l
ant
’sappealwasdismi
ssed
summari
lyatat
imehewasapri
sonerandwasrepresent
edbyanadv e.I
ocat twasheld
thatbys.328(3)noappealshoul
dbesummar i
lydi
smissedwhentheappel
l
anti
sin
custodyunl
esshi
sadvocat
ehasar easonabl
eoppor
tuni
tyofbei
nghear
d.

(
4)Befor
edismissi
nganappealundert
hissect
ion,t
heCour
tmaycal
lfort
her
ecor
dof
t
hecase,butshal
lnotbeboundt
odoso.

Sect
ion329-Not
iceofTi
me,
PlaceandHear
ing

54|
Page
Wher etheHi
ghCourtdoesnotdismisstheappeal
summari
l
y,i
tshallcausenot
icet
obe
gi
v entothepar
ti
esorthei
radvocates,ofthet
imeandpl
aceatwhichtheappealwi
llbe
heard,andshallf
urni
shther espondentwithacopyoftheproceedingsandoft he
groundsofappeal
.

nMensahv
I .TheRepubl ic,counself ortheappell
antsubmittedthatthecourtshould
dealwi t
ht heappealsummar i
l
yandr educethesentencewithoutcall
i
ngonornot if
ying
theA- Gascounsel fort
heRepubl ic.I
twashel dthati
twasclearfrom theprov
isi
onsofs.
329t hatthecourtwasmandat or
ilyrequir
edt onoti
fytheRepubli
cofthet i
meandpl ace
atwhi cht heappealwoul dbehear dandf urni
shtheRepubl icwithacopyoft he
proceedingsandt hegroundsoft heappeal .

Sect
ion330-PowerofCour
t

(1)TheHi
ghCour
tshal
lsendf
ort
her
ecor
doft
hecase,i
fther
ecor
disnotal
readyi
n
Court
.

(2)Aft
erperusi
ngt herecordandhear
ingtheappell
antorhi
scounsel
,ift
hecounsel
appear
s,andtherespondentorhi
scounsel
,ifheappear
s,t
heCour
tmaydet er
minet
he
appeali
naccordancewithlaw.

Sect
ion331-Or
derofHi
ghCour
ttobecer
ti
fi
edt
oDi
str
ictCour
t

(1)Whereacasei sdeci
dedonappealbytheHi ghCourt,i
tshallcer
ti
fyit
sjudgmentor
ordertot
heCour tbywhichtheconvict
ion,sentence,ororderappealedagainstwas
recor
dedorpassed.

(2)Thejudgmentshallberecordedi
nwrit
ingandshallcont
ainthepointorpoi
ntsfor
deter
minati
on,thedeci
sionther
eonandthereasonforthedeci
sion,andshal
lbedat
ed
andsignedbytheJudgeatthetimeofpr
onouncingi
t.

(3)TheCour ttowhi cht

heHi ghCourtcer
ti
fiesit
sjudgmentorordershal
lthereupon
makesuchor dersasareconformabl
etothejudgmentororderoft
heHighCour t
,andif
necessar
y,t
her ecor
dsshall
beamendedi naccordancether
ewit
h.

Sect
ion333-Fur
therEv
idence

(1)Indeal
ingwi t
hanappealf r
om aCircui
tCourtoraDist
rictCour
ttheHighCourt
,ifi
t
thi
nksaddi
t i
onalev i
denceisnecessar
y,shal
lrecordit
sreasons,andmayei t
hertake
suchevi
denceitselfordi
recti
ttobetakenbyaCircui
tCourtoraDist
ri
ctCourt
.

(2)Whent headdi
ti
onalev
idencei
stakenbyaCir
cui
tCourtoraDi st
ri
ctCourtt
hatCourt
shallcer
ti
fysuchevi
dencetotheHighCourt
,whi
chshal
lthereuponproceedtodispose
oftheappeal.

55|
Page
(
3)Unl
esstheHighCourtot
herwisedi
rect
s,t
heaccusedorhi
scounselshal
lbepr
esent
whent
headdit
ional
evi
denceistaken.

(
4)Evidencei
npursuanceofthi
ssecti
onshal
lbet
akenasi
fitwer
eev
idencet
akenata
t
ri
albeforeaCi
rcui
tCourtoraDist
ri
ctCour
t.

I
NTHESUPERI
ORCOURTOFJUDI
CATURE

I
NTHEHI
GHCOURTOFJUSTI
CE

SUNYANI–BRONGAHAFOREGI
ON

AD2016

COURTCASENO.….
.

KOFIBANOR@ KB ……………………….
.APPLI
CANT

v
.

THEREPUBLI
C .………………………RESPONDENT

MOTION ON NOTICE FOR EXTENSI

ON OF TI
ME WITHI
N WHICH TO FI
LE APPEAL PURSUANT TO
SECTI
ON328(2)OFTHECRIMI NALANDOTHEROFFENCESPROCEDUREACT,1960,
ACT30

TAKENOTI CETHAT thisHonourabl

eCour twillbemovedbyJohnEskineEsq.t
heLawy erf
orthe
Appl
icanther
einpr
ayi
ngforanor
derofextensionoft
imewit
hinwhi
cht
ofi
l
eanappealbasedongr
ounds
pert
heaccompanyingaf
fi
davi
tsandannexures.

ANDFORANYFURTHERorot
heror
der
(s)ast
hisHonour
abl
eCour
tmaydeem j
ustandf
it
.

COURTTOBEMOVEDont he…….dayof…………….
2016at9:
00am orsosoont
her
eaf
terast
heLawy
erf
or
theAppl
i
cantcanbehear
d.

DATEDATWESLEYGATECHAMBERS,
KUMASI
,THI
S……DAYOFFEBRUARY,
2016

……SGD……………….

JOHNESKI
NE

LAWYERFORAPPLI
CANT

THEREGI
STRAR

HI
GHCOURT

SUNYANI

ANDCOPYFORSERVI
CEON

56|
Page
 (
1) THERESPONDENTORHI
SLAWYER

CHI
EFSTATEATTORNEY

ATTORNEY-
GENERAL’
SDEPARTMENT

SUNYANI–BRONGAHAFOREGI
ON

(
2) THEREGI
ONALDI
RECTOROFPRI
SONS

CENTRALPRI
SONS

SUNYANI–BRONGAHAFOREGI
ON

I
NTHESUPERI
ORCOURTOFJUDI
CATURE

I
NTHEHI
GHCOURTOFJUSTI
CE

SUNYANI–BRONGAHAFOREGI
ON

AD2016

COURTCASENO.….
.

KOFIBANOR@ KB ……………………….
.APPLI
CANT

v
.

THEREPUBLI
C .………………………RESPONDENT

AFFI
DAVI
TINSUPPORTOFMOTI
ONONNOTI
CEFOREXTENSI
ONOFTI
ME

I,KOFIBANOR@ KB,afir
styearEconomicsst
udentoft
heKwameNkr umahUniver
sit
yofSci
enceand
Technol
ogy(KNUST)
,Kumasiandpresent
lyani
nmateoftheCent
ralPr
isons,Suny
anidomakeoathand
sayasfoll
ows:

1. ThatIam t
hedeponenther
ein.

2. Thaton11th Jul
y,2015Iwasconv i
ctedbyHerWor shi
p,Mi ssAmaYamoah,si tt
ingast he
Presidi
ngMagist
rateattheDist
ri
ctCourt
,At
ebubufortheoffenceofDefi
lementofChildunder
Sixt
eeny ear
sofagecont r
arytosect
ion101oftheCriminalOffencesAct,1960,(
Act29)and
sentencedto30yearsI
HL.

3. ThatIam aggr
iev
edbyt
hesai
dconv
ict
ionandsent
enceandi
ntendt
ofi
l
eanappeal
.

4. Thatatt
het
imeoft
hesaidt
rialIwasnotr
epresent
edbyaLawy
eranddi
dnotknowt
hatIhav
ea
l
imit
edti
meper
iodwi
thi
nwhicht of
il
eanappeal.

5. ThatIam i
nfor
medbymyLawy
erandv
eri
l
ybel
i
evesamet
obet
ruet
hatt
het
imef
orappealhas
el
apsed.

57|
Page
 6. ThatIam pr
ayi
ngt
hisHonour
abl
eCour
ttomakeanor
derext
endi
ngt
het
imewi
thi
nwhi
cht
ofi
l
e
anappeal
.

7. Thatf
indat
tachedandmar
kedasExhi
bit“
A”i
sacopyoft
hej
udgmentoft
het
ri
alcour
t.

8. ThatIam i
nfor
medbymyLawy erandver
il
ybeli
evesamet obetr
uet
hatt
hewhol
etr
ialand
convi
cti
oni
swrongi
nlawandt
hatmyappeali
sli
kel
ytosucceed.

9. WHEREFORE,Imakeoathpr
ayi
ngt
hisHonour
abl
eCour
tforanor
derofext
ensi
onoft
imewi
thi
n
whi
chtofi
l
eanappeal.

SWORNATSUNYANION ……………SGD…………….

THI
S….
.DAYOF…………2016 DEPONENTHEREI
N

BEFOREME

COMMI
SSI
ONERFOROATH

I
NTHESUPERI
ORCOURTOFJUDI
CATURE

I
NTHEHI
GHCOURTOFJUSTI
CE

KUMASI
-ASHANTIREGI
ON

AD2016

COURTCASENO:
……

KOFIBANOR@ KB APPELLANT

VRS

THEREPUBLI
C RESPONDENT

PETI
TIONOFAPPEALPURSUANTTOSECTION326OFTHECRI
MINALANDOTHEROFFENCES
PROCEDUREACT,
1960(
ACT30)

Thepet
it
ionofKOFIBANOR@ KBst
atesasf
oll
ows:

1. Thatyourpet
it
ionerwason11thJuly2015convict
edbyHerWor ship,MissAmaYamoah, si
tt
ing
asthePresi
dingMagistr
ateattheDist
ri
ctCourt
,Atebubu,fortheof
fenceofDef i
lementofChi
ldunder
Si
xteenyear
sofagecont r
aryt
osect
ion101oftheCriminalOff
encesAct,1960(Act29)andsent
encedto
30year
sI.H.
L.

58|
Page
2. Acopyoft
hej
udgmentoft
hesai
dtr
ial
Dist
ri
ctCour
tisat
tachedandmar
kedasExhi
bit“
A”.

3. Thaty
ourpet
it
ionerbei
ngaggri
evedbyt
hesai
dconv
ict
ionandsent
encehumbl
ypr
ayst
oappeal
agai
nstsameonthef
ollowi
nggrounds

GROUNDSOFAPPEAL

a. Thatt
hewhol
etr
ialwasnotf
airast
heappel
l
antwasnotgi
venenought
imet
opr
epar
ehi
s
def
ence.

b. Thatt
het
ri
alcour
tlackj
uri
sdi
cti
ont
otr
ythesai
dof
fence.

c. Thatt
hef
act
sdonotsuppor
ttheof
fenceofdef
il
ement
.

d. Thatt
heappel
l
antwaswr
ongl
ydeni
edaccesst
otheser
vicesofal
awy
er.

e. Thatt
het
ri
alcour
texceededi
tssent
enci
ngj
uri
sdi
cti
onbyi
mposi
ngasent
enceof30y
ear
sI.
H.L.

f. Thatassumi
ngt
hesent
encewaswi
thi
nthej
uri
sdi
cti
onoft
hecour
t,samewashar
shand
excessi
ve.

g. Thatt
heappel
l
antpl
eadedgui
l
tywi
thexpl
anat
ionbutwasnotal
l
owedt
ogi
veanyexpl
anat
ion.

h. Ot
hergr
oundst
obef
il
edonr
ecei
ptoft
hef
ull
recor
dofpr
oceedi
ngs.

DATEDATWESLEYGATECHAMBERS,
ADUM-KUMASI
,THI
S….
.DAYOFFEBRUARY,
2016.

…….
…SGD………………

JOHNESKI
NE

LAWYERFORAPPLELANT

CHAMBERREG.NO…….

SOLI
CITORSLI
CENCENO…….

THEREGI
STRAR

HI
GHCOURT

SUNYANI
.

COPYFORSERVI
CEONTHERESPONDENTORHI
SLAWYER

(
1)THECHI
EFSTATEATTORNEY

ATTORNEYGENERAL’
SDEPARTMENT

59|
Page
 KUMASI
.

(
2) THEREGI
ONALDI
RECTOROFPRI
SONS

CENTRALPRI
SONS

SUNYANI–BRONGAHAFOREGI
ON

60|
Page