The constitution of a panel by the Chief Justice (CJ) to hear the appeal of the former Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, is justified and lawful, the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice, has stated.
The Ministry has debunked reports indicating that Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, the Chief Justice, contravened Article 157(3) of the 1992 Constitution in the changes she made to the panel.
A May 14 statement from the Office of the Attorney-General said reports that the CJ contravened the constitutional provision was forged to put the judiciary in bad light, admonishing the public not to tolerate.
The statement made reference to a Herald newspaper publication, as well as a commentary by legal practitioner, Kwaku Asare, noting that the Chief Justice has the right to constitute a panel for any case in any court.
“For the purpose of educating the public, the A-G states that no party to proceedings in court has a right to insist on a particular court or panel of a court to hear his or her case. In accordance with the Constitution and the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), the Chief Justice determines the composition of every court for the hearing of any matter.
“The Chief Justice is a member of every court in the country and, has the power to request in writing a Justice of any of the Superior Courts of Judicature to sit on either the Court of Appeal or the High Court at any time. Further, consistent with article 128(3) of the Constitution, the Chief Justice presides at sittings of the Supreme Court, and in his absence, the most senior of the Justices of the Supreme Court, as constituted, shall preside.”
The statement added that it has learned with grave concern the attempts by some media houses aligned to Dr. Opuni and their attempts to distort proceedings and facts relating to the case
“The A-G notes the persistent attempts by some media houses aligned to Dr Opuni to distort the effect of court proceedings relating to the prosecution of the former Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board. These publications, many a time, are a gross misrepresentation of the evidence led at the trial, intended to ridicule the case of the prosecution and create false impressions about the soundness of the defence put up by Dr Opuni at his trial.
“The A-G observes that most of the publications on the “Opuni case”, orchestrated by the accused persons themselves, transgress the limits of permissible speech as they are calculated at perverting the course of justice and/or prejudicing the fair hearing of that case. Nonetheless, the Republic remains focused against all the accused persons in the case mentioned above and will not be overawed in that process,” the statement contained.
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