A private legal practitioner, Justice Abdulai, has said the decision by the judiciary to partner with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in the fight against corruption raises concerns.
He explained that the judiciary is supposed to be the gatekeeper to ensure that the due processes are followed. Hence, partnering with the prosecutor is definitely a worry to observe.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Wednesday, December 27, Justice Abdulai, also a law lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) law school, said “This is rather a difficult situation that is arising.
Considering that these are two state institutions, one is set up to ensure that law and order and due processes are duly followed and the other to ensure that people who are suspected of engaging in corruption are prosecuted, this makes one an accuser or a prosecutor and the other a gatekeeper for all the right reasons. So if the two decide to come to together it will definitely be a worry to everyone sitting on the fence and looking at this situation.
“It is a worry that the person who is supposed to be a gatekeeper by ensuring that the rights and privileges accorded to individuals whether constitutionally or otherwise, are respected appears to be in bed with the person who is supposed to be complaining and prosecuting, clearly, that can’t be a good thing for us to be excited about, This is a worry to all of us to ask questions and to appreciate why the judiciary will take such a position.
Justice Bdulai was reacting to news that the Judicial Service of Ghana and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) have joined forces to fight corruption.
This is according to a joint statement issued on December 27 by the institutions.
The statement said the Judicial Service and the OSP, “Affirm a joint commitment to suppress and repress corruption and corruption-related activities in all forms through collaborative enforcement of the law and continuous engagement, while upholding the rule of law and the provision of fair hearing to all stakeholders in the criminal justice system.”
The statement further noted that this development followed, “joint engagement with other stakeholders, including the Ghana Bar Association, civil society organisations promoting governance issues, and the National Media Commission.”
This was necessitated by “the seriousness of problems and threats posed by corruption and corruption-related activities to our development and democracy; Noting the important roles of the Judiciary and the Office of the Special Prosecutor in combating corruption and corruption-related activities.”
It would be recalled that the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, complained about how judges dismiss cases his office presented in court.
“In one of the cases, I said a judge injuncted us from arresting a person. Mind you, we were not in court. We had declared the person wanted as a fugitive from justice, there was absolutely no enquiry as to why we believed that the person was a fugitive from justice so it is not as if we breached the law.
“No one asked us why we declared the person wanted. Then we were served with an injunction order that we cannot arrest the person meanwhile we know that in our law no one has the right not to be arrested. You cannot say you are granting a person a right not to be arrested.
“So when we receive judicial decisions like that it makes us assume that we are being prevented from arresting someone who is a fugitive from justice” he lamented.
It is believed that the meeting between the two agencies was ocassioned by these sentiments expressed by the Special Prosecutor, which engendered a huge public debate.