Special Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court; Some thoughts

In ordinary parlance, leave implies praying to the court to grant permission to file an appeal. This looks very simple and what does failure to seek ‘permission’ to file an appeal cause the litigant? One may argue that just failing to seek ‘permission’ should not deprive the litigant of access to justice. As Kpegah JSC (as he then was) held in Ekwan v Pianim (No.1) said; “For it is the duty of the court to keep the door to the shrine of justice wide open rather than close it”

Did the dictum of the learned judge mean that even if the litigant breaches a constitutional provision or statute he should still be given the field day to access justice? The author does not think so. The courts, especially the Supreme Court, is the watchdog of the constitution and breaches of its provision without any checks will lead to chaos in the whole edifice of our judicial and legal jurisprudence. Date-Bah JSC (as he then was) admonished judges of breaches of statute in the case of Republic v High Court (FTD) Accra; Ex parte National Lottery Authority (Ghana Lotto Operators Association & Others Interested Parties) [2009] SCGLR 390, the Supreme Court, per Date-Bah JSC held:…

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