Take over all OSP prosecutions until prosecutorial power is granted-Court orders AG
By DL News
Published
1 min read
In the judgment delivered by Justice John Eugene Nyadu Nyante, the court held that although the Special Prosecutor may investigate offences, the power to prosecute remains constitutionally tied to the Attorney General
A major legal setback has hit the Office of the Special Prosecutor after the High Court in Accra ruled that it cannot on its own initiate criminal prosecutions without the involvement of the Attorney General.
In the judgment delivered by Justice John Eugene Nyadu Nyante, the court held that although the Special Prosecutor may investigate offences, the power to prosecute remains constitutionally tied to the Attorney General unless proper authorisation is given under Article 88(4) of the 1992 Constitution.
The ruling means prosecutions already being conducted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor cannot continue in their present form. Instead, the Attorney General is now expected to assume responsibility for all such criminal cases pending before the courts.
The court reached that conclusion after upholding a legal challenge brought against the prosecutorial powers of the Special Prosecutor. It further ordered the office to pay GH¢15,000 in costs.
The decision is likely to have far-reaching consequences for Ghana’s anti-corruption enforcement regime, especially in cases that had been directly pursued by the Special Prosecutor without Attorney General oversight.
With the judgment now in place, attention is expected to shift to how quickly the Attorney General’s office will move to take over the affected prosecutions and what the ruling means for the future structure of corruption-related criminal litigation in Ghana.
