REPUBLIC vs. GA MANTSE’S CUSTOMARY ARBITRATION TRIBUNAL AND OTHERS; EX PARTE BROWN

JUDGMENT OF FORSTER JA This appeal is from the ruling of Lutterodt J (as she then was) sitting at the High Court, Accra on 15 February 1990. The appellant in an ex parte motion sought leave of the court to issue an order of prohibition to restrain the respondents from proceeding further with the proceedings before the first respondent’s tribunal in the case of Nii Charbukwei II, Chief of Anyah v Augustus Kpakpo Brown. At the hearing of the substantive motion the respondents’ counsel raised a preliminary objection contending that the High Court had no jurisdiction inasmuch as the Ga Mantse’s customary arbitration tribunal (hereinafter called the tribunal) was not set up by statute and therefore was not amenable to the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court. In her ruling dated 15 February 1990, the judge held that the respondent-tribunal was not an adjudicating authority and therefore was outside the scope of the writ of prohibition. She therefore dismissed the applicati...