The Supreme Court will rule on Friday on a bid by lawmaker Kojo Oppong Nkrumah to suspend High Court trials during the ongoing legal vacation, after lawyers for both sides completed their arguments on Thursday.
Oppong Nkrumah, the Member of Parliament for Ofoase/Ayirebi, is seeking an interlocutory injunction against a warrant issued by the Chief Justice allowing High Court judges to continue conducting trials between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30, the court’s legal vacation period.
His lawyer, Frank Davies, argued that the warrant exceeded the Chief Justice’s administrative powers and raised constitutional concerns under Article 296, which governs the exercise of discretionary powers by public authorities.
Davies said continuing trials could prejudice accused persons, particularly where their lawyers were unavailable during the vacation. He argued that some judges had declined adjournment requests despite the warrant, potentially requiring accused persons to proceed without legal representation.
The applicant’s lawyers also maintained that allowing trials to continue before the constitutional challenge was determined could undermine any eventual relief granted by the Supreme Court.
The government opposed the application. Deputy Attorney-General Justice Srem-Sai argued that Oppong Nkrumah had failed to meet the legal threshold for an interlocutory injunction, including demonstrating irreparable harm and showing that the balance of convenience favoured intervention.
The State also argued that the Chief Justice’s warrant did not dictate how individual judges should conduct proceedings. Decisions on adjournments and the management of particular trials, it said, remained within the judicial discretion of trial judges.
Srem-Sai further contended that challenges to specific decisions by trial judges should be pursued through judicial review rather than the Supreme Court’s original constitutional jurisdiction.
He rejected the claim that trials were prohibited during legal vacation, arguing that no such absolute rule existed.
Justice Gabriel Pwamang, sitting as a single judge, adjourned the case after hearing the arguments. His ruling on Friday will determine whether the challenged trials can continue while the substantive constitutional case proceeds.
