[2013]DLSC2738 • January 24, 2013 • Supreme Court •
THE REPUBLIC vs. HIGH COURT (FAST TRACK DIV.) ACCRA EX-PARTE; ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MADAM MAUD NONGO
The Interested Party obtained a judgment against the Ghana Fire Service for payment of GhC 749,791.62 plus damages and costs. After entry of judgment, but without obtaining a Registrar's certificate as required by section 15 of the State Proceedings Act, the Interested Party secured garnishee orders attaching funds held by the Ghana Fire Service at the Bank of Ghana. The Attorney General appealed the judgment and sought stay of execution, which was refused. The Attorney General then applied to quash the garnishee orders on grounds that the High Court lacked jurisdiction to attach public funds in execution of judgment debts.
read moreDR. DATE-BAH JSC: This case raises interesting constitutional issues going to the very heart of the principle of the rule of law, one of the bedrocks of the 1992 Constitution. The applicant’s contention that public funds and government property cannot be attached in execution of judgment debts puts into issue the accountability of the State to persons who bring action before the courts. The current position regarding the liability of the State to ordinary people in Commonwealth jurisdictions has come about through statutory reform of the original common law position in order to adjust it to the demands of a modern state. The applicant’s contention raises the issue whether the gains of this reform movement are to be lost to litigants before the Ghanaian courts. At common law, originally, proceedings could be brought against the Crown for breach of contract or restitution of property only after obtaining a fiat from the Crown and through the procedure of the petition of right. ...