The Search for Justice

TITLE: The Search for Justice; Setting the Record Straight.

The line has somewhat been drawn under the whole affair, but the dust is still thick in the air. It will be a travesty and an injustice to the people of the nation, if it is allowed to remain as such.. History will not be kind if it is not corrected.

The Distinguished Lady Justice Rose Owusu, Justice Julius Ansah, Justice Anin Yeboah, and Justice John Victor Dotse. These judges are the illustrious sons and daughter of the nation and their work on 2012 Presidential Election Petition, is what can best be described as one of the finest of legal nous that the country has ever known.

These illustrious judges found in favour of the petitioners, aspects of their claim as presented in their petition. Highly misunderstood and mostly out of ignorance, these illustrious sons and daughter of Ghana have been vilified and castigated, with barbs coming from some high places and some very influential personalities.

An article put forward by one Mr Ata and severally echoed by others like him, sought to dispose and suggest, that Lady Justice Rose Owusu, Justice Julius Ansah, Justice Anin Yeboah, and Justice John Victor Dotse, in finding in favour, aspects of the petitioners’ claim, came to such conclusions as a result of a cursory understanding of the law.

Mr Ata, who admits to having no formal legal training and whose only knowledge of the law, is garnered from stints as a lay-member on some industrial tribunal cases, further claims citing his experience, that the other judges on the case came to their conclusions to summarily dismiss the petitioners’ claims, as a result of their in-depth and broad understanding of the law.

I totally fail to understand how a lay person on some employment tribunal cases, can find in himself the courage, not to claim ignorance of the judgements, but actually pronounce such a damning appraisal on the work of judges from whose purlieus he is so far removed. It is not as if it is a minnow evaluating the performance of a shark, because that will equivalent to a lower court judge evaluating the performance of a Supreme court Judge. In this instance there is a shark but no minnow. We cannot even have a ratio.

Nevertheless the claim is out there. So! Let’s just see, if the work of the illustrious Lady Justice Rose Owusu, Justices Julius Ansah, Anin Yeboah, and John Victor Dotse, was as a result of a cursory understanding of the law or not.

To do so we will employ basic mathematics, to explain the principle of a lawsuit or the petition, in a manner that even a small child in primary school will understand. [Cue the number line].

-10, -9, -8, -7, -6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,

Every dispute or lawsuit can be likened to a simple number line, which anyone who has had basic primary education will be familiar. If we place an individual on a neutral position 0, every positive effort he makes, will give him added value, and his position will shift to the right. Any adverse or negative effect on his progress or position will bring a reduction in value, resulting in a shift to the left.

If we take the values on the number line to be money in Cedis, and we assume, that someone causes you to lose 6 cedis, it will mean that you would move six places to the left [to -6], from your initial position [of 0].

Now in lawsuit, you will have to identify to the court and prove, how and who is responsible for your loss [ detriment ] and suggest to the court how much [the relief ] it will take to compensate you, or bring you back to the position you would have been, if you had not suffered the loss.

That is the basics in simple terms, we are now going to move a bit higher. If you have been paying attention, you would have noted that there are two elements to a lawsuit; the detriment [ loss ] and the relief [ remedy ].

If you go back to the explanation, you will notice that you have to prove the detriment, but you only suggest the relief. The reason for this is simple: Unless specified by law, the remedy being sought will be subject to the rule of proportionality which is subject to a lot of discretion by the court or judge. To put it simply, based on the findings of the court, a judge may award, reduce increase or dismiss the relief being asked.

Unless otherwise influenced, this principle will be adhered to, irrespective of where it occurs. There is not such thing, that good judges can be found in only specific areas of the world, such that a lay person on some employment tribunal cases in such an area, can claim a superior or better understanding of the law than a Supreme Court Justice in another.

[ We are going higher still! ] Just like the acronym BIDMAS, which dictates the sequence in mathematical operations, Judicial Prudence [or jurisprudence] is simply the dynamic or manner of applications, which informs the way in which the law is applied in specific areas of law. In the interest of justice, unless it forms part of the substantive case, it is very important, that the relief sought by a petitioner, does not become a determinant factor in the findings of fact by the court. If that happens, it will always lead to a miscarriage of justice.

To illustrate this with the number line and the loss of the six cedis. If in a lawsuit, the remedy being sought is [for example], six hundred lashes; one for each cedi lost, it will be wrong for a judge to say, that because lashing is severe or extreme, the case is dismissed as a result. The determination and judgement on whether you suffered a loss must be made first. That finding and judgement must not be influenced in any shape or form by the fact that, should the court find in your favour, your statement of loss is one that the court is not prepared to countenance.

You see how, the simple number line that is learnt in primary school, forms the basis of of one of the biggest court cases in the nation’s recent history. We can see, how not paying attention in your foundation class can lead to making all the wrong assumptions.

I hope Mr Ata and all those who are vilifying The Distinguished Lady Justice Rose Owusu, Justice Julius Ansah, Justice Anin Yeboah, and Justice John Victor Dotse, are going to reflect on the the things which have been said. Because next time, we will find out, how the work of these illustrious Four has affected the people, the nation and its constitution. It will be advanced, so if they have not got the basics, they will not get it.

Notions will be dismantled. It will be Revelations Chapter One [ The Judicial Kind ].

Jedd Rii.

Link: aabicoleridge@live.co.uk Coming Up: Guardians of Justice: The Legacy of Four.