MICHAEL ASAMOAH & ANOR. vs. THE REPUBLIC

ADINYIRA (MRS), JSC:- Your ladyship and your Lordships permit me to preface my opinion with the dictum of Lamer CJ in the Canadian case of R v P (MB) [1994] 1 SCR 555 on submission of no case: “Perhaps the single most important organizing principle in criminal law is the right of the accused not to be forced into assisting in his or her own prosecution. This means, in effect, that an accused is under no obligation to respond until the state has succeeded in making out a prima facie case against him or her.” This case came before us by way of an appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on14 July 2016 in which the Court of Appeal affirmed the decision of the High Court (Financial Division One) Accra to call upon the Appellants to open their defence after the close of prosecution’s case. BRIEF FACTS On the 27th of June, 2013 personnel from the CID Headquarters Accra, in collaboration with officials of the Telecom Service Providers embarked on an operation to cl...