Remission of Montie Three Sentence


Without mincing words and without a shadow of doubt, President John Dramani Mahama got it right. The question that needs to be answered is what did the President do? The facts are bare. In the first place, the President accepted the conviction of the Montie three. He also accepted that the court was right in slapping both fine and custodial sentence on the contemnors. The President however disagreed with the severity of the sentence and therefore reduced it. He did that by exercising the powers conferred on him by Article 72 clause [1D] of the constitution. Not under Article 72 clause [1A], [1B] or [1C]. What the President did is a remission, not a pardon, not a respite and not a substitution. In essence, the President disagreed with the call on him by the petitioners to pardon the Montie three.

The President however rightly accepted a reduction of the sentence. It is important to note that the citizens of this country have chosen the path of multiparty constitutional democracy in which they clearly committed themselves to the legal supremacy of the constitution. It is the people of Ghana who are sovereign and supreme. One deliberately used the term legal supremacy because we do not govern only by law. But we also resort to morality and good conscience in governing a nation. In a multi-party constitutional democracy, none of the three arms of government is supreme. None has final authority on all the powers of government and none is superior over the others. Only the constitution is supreme in all matters of law. There is however enshrined in the Constitution the doctrine of checks and balances. Surely because the nation is governed by fallible mortals and not angels.

In that respect, any of the arms of government can err. Check on one arm of government by another cannot by any stretch of imagination or argument be said to be an interference with the function of the arm. The Judiciary can and has on a number of occasions declared the acts or conduct of the Executive unconstitutional, or ultra vires and therefore void and of no effect or voidable. The Judiciary has struck down such acts or conduct on many occasions. Could that be said to be interference in the function of the Executive? The Judiciary has dealt similarly with the Legislature. An example is a section of the Chieftaincy Act recently passed by Parliament. It is noteworthy that in exercising the powers conferred on him by Article 72 (1), the President is not called upon to resort to the provisions of the Prison Service Act. It is only under Article 72 (2) that the President is called upon to, apart from the advice of the Council of State, be informed by the other matters stated in Article 72 clause (2). The President swore an oath to at all times preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the Republic of Ghana. The President swore to dedicate himself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of Ghana and to do right to all manner of persons. The President has just abided by this oath. Congratulations Mr President. Having said that, it is also instructional to comment on the strange animal call contempt.

The current state of the law in Ghana supports the exercise of the power of the Judiciary to punish for contempt in facie curia (in the face of the court) and ex facie curia (out of the face of the court). Except that in the case of ex facie curia there is doubt as to whether the court could act as the complainant, the prosecutor and the judge at the same time in its own cause. One is of the view that in the case of contempt ex facie curia the court ought not be clothed with such powers.
This view is supported by some judges as shown in a number of decided cases including the one on Liberty press. In such cases, the Attorney General has a role to play since cases of contempt are quasi criminal in nature. Applying civil procedure rules and process to try such quasi criminal matters run contrary to all known principles of a fair criminal trial. In such cases the court is not clothed with the evidence. This has to be adduced before the court. The evidence has to go through the acid test of examination by both the prosecution and the defence and even the court. In contempt trials the critical examination of the Prosecution and defence is regrettably absent. It is therefore worth counseling that the exercise of the power to convict and punish for contempt be exercised with utmost restraint by both the Judiciary and Parliament.

BY ALBAN BAGBIN, MAJORITY LEADER IN PARLIAMENT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Need For Ghanaians To Support The 2021 Budget

  The 2021 budget focused on the need to complete all previously initiated projects, consolidate the economy and continue with new programmes for the benefit of the people. The previous practice where some of the uncompleted projects were delayed for various reasons is unacceptable and must be abandoned for the progress of the country. This is good and ought to be realized because abandoned or neglected projects constitute a drain on the resources of the country. Development programmes must be well thought through before their implementation. Their implementation must also be well planned so that they will not constitute a waste of resources in the country. If this is done at all times, the entire country will benefit from a sound and maximum use of its limited resources for Ghanaians. This must therefore guide all governments, present and future for the rapid socio-economic development of the country. It is clear that government needs more revenue to be able to finance its development
Read more

One Year Of Coronavirus In Ghana

  Exactly a year ago, Ghana announced the first two recorded Coronavirus cases in the country. This was after few months that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared the disease a public health emergency of international concern. It became the highest level of alarm under international law. The WHO published an interactive timeline showcasing how the organization has taken action on information, science, leadership, advice, response and resourcing. A year on, Ghana’s Covid-19 death toll has reached 656, with active case standing at 4,782 with 272 new cases recorded, leading to 86,737 total confirmed cases. Experts are of the opinion that the figures might have been terrible but for the pragmatic and prudent measures put in by the Government, which was hailed across the globe. Ghana is said to have been one of the world’s best countries to have managed the spread of COVID-19 very well. Indeed, the country’s leadership with respect to the control of the pandemic has been superb.
Read more

Showing compassion to the less privileged

  Poverty, it is said, is a serious disease which when it afflicts you, will not kill you easily but rather disorganises your plans and ways of living and renders you impotent. Nobody is born poor on this earth but rather, certain unforeseen circumstances give way to poverty. A touchy and heart-rendering story of an 18-year old orphan who is desirous of becoming a doctor in the future but currently facing financial challenges to support his education to realise his ambition is for some time now trending on social media. Edward Elorm Gbanaglo is said to have completed his secondary education at the Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School (PRESEC) in Accra with seven A’s and two B’s and has gained admission into the University of Health and Allied Sciences at Ho in the Volta Region. He managed to pay his admission fees with the help of his late mother’s friends. However, Elorm, who defied all odds to make excellent grades, fears he might not be able to complete the program because he does
Read more