Legal Vacation: Frank Davies questions ‘selective, unfair treatment’ of some cases

Private legal practitioner, Frank Davies, has raised concerns over what he described as the selective and unfair treatment of cases during the court’s legal vacation, questioning the basis for prioritising certain cases while others remain pending.

In a video that has since gone viral on social media on August 20, 2026, he explained that although courts do not stop working during the legal vacation, the period is intended to allow the judiciary to focus on urgent and critical matters, including interim applications and bail applications.

According to him, applications such as bail and bail pending appeal are precisely the type of matters that should receive attention during the vacation because of their urgent nature.

"Indeed, what has happened is that Kokuvie Tay is sitting during the vacation. So, if you have a serious application like pending bail applications and interim applications and urgent and critical matters,” he said.

Davies’ concerns centre on why some cases are given priority during the vacation while other matters are adjourned for several weeks or months.

He questioned the decision to adjourn a case to October when, in his view, it could have been heard earlier in August or September.

“Why did she adjourn to October when she could have adjourned to maybe two weeks in September, in August or in September?” he asked.

Davies also challenged what he described as the possibility of different standards being applied to cases before the courts.

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“Are there two different sets of rights in this country, superior rights and lesser rights?” he asked.

He explained that although trials can sometimes take place during the legal vacation, such proceedings are generally conducted with the consent of the parties and their lawyers.

“If you go around the courts or the vacation courts, go to those courts and see whether trials are being conducted. If trials are being conducted, they are with the consent of the parties and the lawyers involved,” he said.

Davies therefore questioned whether the prioritisation of cases during the legal vacation is being applied consistently, particularly where some matters requiring urgent judicial attention remain pending while others are heard.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has set August 21, 2026, to rule on an application by the Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayeribi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, seeking to suspend the conduct of certain High Court trials during the legal vacation.

JKB/VPO

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