[1997]DLSC9961 • May 28, 1997 • Supreme Court •
MENSAH vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL
The plaintiff challenged the legality of ministers and deputy ministers appointed by the first President of the Fourth Republic continuing to act without prior approval of the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic after 6 January 1997. The dispute arose when the President retained seven ministers without submitting them for re-approval by the new Parliament, leading to a constitutional challenge regarding the interpretation of the requirement for prior parliamentary approval of ministerial appointments under the 1992 Constitution.
read moreAikins JSC. Lord Patrick Devlin in his renowned book entitled The Judge (1979) at p 4 stated: "If a judge leaves the law and makes his own decision, even if in substance they are just, he loses the protection of the law and sacrifices the appearance of impartiality which is given by adherence to the law. He expresses himself personally to the dissatisfied litigant and exposes himself to criticism. But if the stroke is inflicted by law, it leaves no sense of individual injustice; the losing party is not a victim who has been singled out; it is the same for everybody he says. And how many a defeated litigant has salved his wounds with the thought that the law is an ass." It is with these words of wisdom operating on my mind that I have set off on the journey of writing this opinion. Introduction On 7 February 1997 the plaintiff issued out a writ against the defendant claiming a declaration that: "(i) on a true and proper interpretation of the Constitution, particularly articles 57(3...