Opuni Case: Disregard claims Supreme Court is against defendant – Godfred Dame

Godfred Yeboah Dame, Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has called on the public to disregard allegations and claims that the Supreme Court is biased against defendants in the case of the Republic versus Dr Stephen Opuni and two others.

In a statement released on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, and signed by the Attorney General, he noted that he had seen some malicious publications in the media that seek to deliberately misrepresent the composition of a panel to hear an appeal in the Supreme Court in the Dr Stephen Opuni case.

“Publications in various newspapers, particularly the Herald, and commentary on social media by some persons including, Prof Kweku Asare are laden with falsehood and contain an imputation that the composition of the panel for the hearing of the appeal on 8 May 2024 was unusual, questionable or in violation of the Constitution. The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice (A-G), a party to the case in question and owing a constitutional duty to protect the administration of justice from abuse, hereby set the record,” parts of the statement read.

The statements continued to say that, “arguments in the appeal filed at the Supreme Court by Dr Stephen Opuni against an order of the Court of Appeal dated 3 July 2023, for the adoption of evidence led in the case mentioned above, were heard by the Supreme Court on 8 May 2024 and not on any date before…

“… the appeal was originally listed for hearing at the Supreme Court on 17 January 2024. By that day, no written submissions had been filed in the matter. A bare notice of appeal was the only process that had been filed in the proceedings.

"The Supreme Court also did not invite any of the parties to make oral submissions, either in support of, or in opposition to any of the grounds of appeal filed by the appellant.

"It is thus undisputable that no arguments were heard by the Supreme Court on 17th January, 2024. the Court rather gave directions for the future hearing of the matter by, ordering the appellant, Dr Opuni, to file his written submissions within 21 days, and the respondent, the Republic, to file her written submissions within 21 days of being served with the appellant’s submissions.

"The appellant was given a further opportunity to file a reply within seven days of being served with the respondent’s submissions.”

In his statement, the AG educated Ghanaians that, no party on the case in court has a right to insist on a particular court or panel of a court to hear their case.

This, he said, is in accordance with the Constitution and the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), which makes it clear that the Chief Justice determines the composition of every court for the hearing of any matter.

The AG explained, “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. A deliberate disregard of these basic principles is inimical to the sound adjudication of cases and portends danger for the entire society.”

EAN/AE

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