Private legal practitioner, Martin Luther Kpebu, has said that the denial of bail to accused persons, particularly Oliver Barker-Vormawor, one of the leaders of the Democracy Hub protest, is an abuse of his rights.
He says the constitution is clear that when a person is arrested, irrespective of the condition, be it a holiday, weekend or even a judicial break, the person must be arraigned for the Chief Justice to give a judge to preside over the case.
According to him, the maxim that “personal liberties are priceless” does not apply in Ghana, considering the fact that a court will close at 4pm when a suspect is due for bail.
Speaking on the denial of bail to one of the Democracy Hub protestors, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, Mr. Kpebu said it was time to give meaning to the saying that personal liberties are priceless.
He says what is needed in such circumstances when there is a holiday, a break or a weekend is to get a registrar for the Chief Justice to give a judge since the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled on the 48-hour period in 2019.
“In Kpebu No. 4, the Supreme Court said ’48 hours is 48 hours’. Saturday, Sunday, holiday and even when the Judicial Service staff are on strike,” he said on the KeyPoints Saturday, October 12, 2024 on the KeyPoints on TV3.
“We are not walking our talk. Remember the protestors got bail on Monday around 11 o’clock and the notice got to the police the next day at 2pm. More than 24 hours,” he added.
He also explained that although the constitution says a judge may use his discretion on an accused who is already on bail, provided he is involved in “an offence that when he is convicted, he may serve more than six months, then the judge can look at that and use that to deny him bail.”
However, he stated that since the law is left for interpretation by the judges, it could used to abuse the rights of others, as a former Supreme Court Justice, Taylor, indicated after studying that law and making comparisons with that of other jurisdictions.
“Taylor J looked at that provision and said it’s a dangerous provision. If we are not careful we are going to use it to stifle the freedoms and personal liberties of our citizens and he showed why it is not good. so since then we’ve been using it,” he stated.
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